Skip to main content

Full text of "Wiltshire archaeological and natural history magazine"

See other formats 


7 a as, 
- 


No. LXXXYVI. DECEMBER, 1896. Vou. XXIX. 


THE 


WILTSHIRE 
Areheolagical and Mutucal Prstory 
MAGAZINE, 


Published under the Birection 


OF THE 


SOCIETY FORMED IN THAT COUNTY, 


By. Die A Bb8-, 


EDITED BY 


REV. EB. H. GODDARD, Clyffe Vicarage, Wootton Bassett. 


a ————————————— 


DEVIZES : 


PRINTED AND SOLD ror THE Society By Hurry & PEARSON, 
Sr. Jonn STREET. 


Price, 3s. 6d. Members, Gratis. 


NOTICE TO MEMBERS. 


TAKE NOTICE, that a copious Index for the preceding eight 
volumes of the Magazine will be found at the end of Vols. 
Vill., XVi.; and xxiv. 

Members who have not paid their Subscriptions to the Society for 
the current year, are requested to remit the same forthwith to 
the Financial Secretary, Mr. Davin Owen, 31, Long Street, 
Devizes, to whom also all communications as to the supply 
of Magazines should be addressed. 


The Numbers of this Magazine will be delivered gratis, as issued, 
to Members who are not in arrear of their Annual Subserip- 
tions, but in accordance with Byelaw No. 8 “The Financial 
Secretary shall give notice to Members in arrear, and the 
Society’s publications will not be forwarded to Members whose 
Subscriptions shall remain unpaid after such notice.”’ 


All other communications to be addressed to the Honorary Seere- 
taries: H. BE. Mepricorr, Esq., Sandfield, Potterne, Devizes ; 
and the Rev. E. H. Gopparp, Clyffe Vicarage, Wootton Bassett. 


A resolution has been passed by the Committee of the Society, 
“that it is highly desirable that every encouragement should 
be given towards obtaining second copies of Wiltshire Parish 
Registers.” 


THE. SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS. 


To BE OBTAINED OF Mr. D. Owen, 31, Lona STREET, DEViZzEs. 

THE BRITISH AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF THE NORTH 
WILTSHIRE DOWNS, by the Rev. A. C. SMITH, M.A. One Volume, 
Atlas 4to, 248 pp., 17 large Maps, and 110 Woodcuts, Extra Cloth. Price £2 2s. 
One copy offered to each Member of the Society, at £1 11s. 6d. 


THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF WILTSHIRE. One Volume, 8vo, 
504 pp., with map, Extra Cloth. By the Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A. Price to the 
Public, 16s.; but one copy offered to every Member of the Society at half-price. 

CATALOGUE or tue STOURHEAD COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES, 
In tHE SOCIETY’S MUSEUM, with 174 illustrations. Price 2s. 6d. 


CATALOGUE or tHe SOCIETY’S LIBRARY ar raze MUSEUM. 
Price 3s. 6d; to Members, 2s.6d. APPENDIX No. L., 3d. 

CATALOGUE or WILTSHIRE TRADE TOKENS 1n tHe SOCIETY’S 
COLLECTION. Price 6d. 

BACK NUMBERS or tHe MAGAZINE. Price to the Public, 5s. 6d. and 
3s. 6d. (except in the case of a few Numbers, the price of which is raised). 
Members are allowed a reduction of 25 per cent. from these prices. 

STONEHENGE AND ITS BARROWS, by W. Long. Nos. 46-7 of the 
Magazine in separate wrapper, 7s. 6d. This still remains the best and most 
reliable account of Stonehenge and its Earthworks. 

GUIDE ro rHe STONES or STONEHENGE, with Map, by W. Cunnington, 
F.G.S. Price 6d. 

WILTSHIRE—THE TOPOGRAPHICAL COLLECTIONS OF JOHN 
AUBREY, F.R.S., A.D., 1659-1670. Corrected and Enlarged by the Rev. Canon 
J. E. Jackson, M.A., F.S.A. In 4to, Cloth. pp. 491, with 46 plates. Price £2 10s. 

INDEX OF ARCHAZOLOGICAL PAPERS. The alphabetical Index of 
Papers published in 1891, 1892, 1893, and 1894, by the various Archeological 
and Antiquarian Societies throughout England, compiled under the direction of 
the Congress of Archeological Sucieties. Price 3d. each. 


WILTSHIRE 
Arrhealagical ont Botural €istory 
MAGAZINE, 


Published under the Direction ot the Society 


FORMED IN THAT COUNTY, A.D. 1853. 


VOL, XXIX. 


ANS M US Ss 
Sn De Oh 


aie Ee 


1896 —97. 


DEVIZES: 
C. H. Woopwarp (late Hurry & Pearson), 4, St. Jonn Srreerv. 


DecemBeER, 1897. 


Tue Eprror of the Wiltshire Magazine desires that it should 
be distinctly understood that neither he nor the Committee of the 
Wiltshire Archeological and Natural History Socicty hold themselves 
in any way answerable for any statements or opinions expressed 
in the Magazine; for all of which the Authors of the several 
papers and communications are alone responsible. 


CONTENTS OF VOL. XXIX. 


No. LXXXVI. Drcemper, 1896. 


the Year July, 1895—July, 1896 ...........-.ccccceeecenceeseeseeeeeonserece 
The Skull of the Poet Crabbe: by CttrForp W, Hoxeare, M.A. ...... 
Notes on Recent Discoveries at Lacock Abbey: by C. H. Taxsor ...... 


The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere: by C. E. Pontine, F.S.A.... 
Occurrence of the Cream-coloured Courser in Wilts... ent 
Wilts Obituary ....... Sees eee Poah acen wor catneeaneresseagecers 
Wilts Books, Panspblds, Avid: ke, ete at eR cWaa encloses sesacounwenese'sés 
BMEGATIONS tO LADLANY co... .cenccscccescrosccescconccsenseosseesenssseseesnscrsaceoe 
MIA IH NSLO VISCUM, 7. cides ve, cow scenes ede gee dadvesiswienp-sasjess she sehinceiyscneaiene 


No. LXXXVII. June, 1897. 


Account of the Forty-Third General Meeting, at Salisbury ....... 
The Ancient Sub-Chantry House formerly in the Close, ares ie 
SR NEEER URS Ce ho eet eee doe it vasa seles« can ccrea vnmaasnenasas'sasarssedacaned 
The Mizmaze on Breamore Down, Hants, near Downton: by the Rev. 
A. D. Hitt.. Be ocomeeet. 
_ Passages in the Binion on Deaton Ey, D. “1138 - —1380 ; J dhietty from 
_ the Public Records: by Rev. J. K. Fioyer, M.A., FSA. wheats 
- Notes on the Heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral: by the Rev. E. E. 
EIR rh 2 a Baas! a ee 
Certificate of the Town Gild of Malmesbury Pace t Record Office— 
Certificates, &c., of Guilds. Chancery No. 443 ) .. see 
- Nevil Maskelyne, D.D., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal : - T.S Mas ASKELYNE 
The Fraternities of Sarum: by the late Rev. R. H. CLurrersuck, F.S.A. 
Witches’ Brooms: by C. R. Srraton, F.E.S. : 
Excavation of a Roman Well near Silbury Hill, a ale ae Dababer, 1896 : 
i by J. W. Brooxe and B. Howarp Cunnineron, F.S.A., Scot. 
The Bristol High Cross at Stourhead, Wilts: by C. E. Pontrne, FSA, 
Short Notes ........ ements sos 
Recent Books, Pastiplilets. ‘Arties ‘wes on n Wiltshire ‘Mellen. Bo cneater 


9 


Report of the Wiltshire Archzeological and Natural History Society for 


lv - CONTENTS OF VOL. XXIX. 


No. LXXXVIIT. Decemprr, 1897. 


PAGE 
Report of the Wiltshire Archzological and Natural sige pa for 
the Year July, 1896—July, 1897 . ease ieciadee sete Ee 
Notes on the History of Mere: by T. Al, Bameny,6,.2tad ns cee 224. 
Waltsi@bituary-andy Personals Notices: 0.2. li..0ccescs veseecsevaeaeoa nce’ momen 338 
Recente Wiltshire tooksand GA TOIGLES v5 sn. ce eapamiaiesiusisinisiields ov'ueneasias oat ca 342 
Grtisstort he Maseumipne eect metre nce edane veces saenecnecmmtetelcemtinccawneystseet 353 
Giibess touche Wilbraryere yee ete sete iatscec ceive 9n/scetesaroaces sep deaseucnalscumema aed 303 
IBINV ALLA (haste cles Greene: Tat aes vot eistosetee ded svetemerer esc zens radios wiecneuememe 354, 


Ellustrations. 


Mere Church, South-East—showing Bettesthorne Chapel, 20. Mere Church— 
Rood Screen, and Gallery across North Aisle, giving access to it, 20. Mere 
Church—showing Early Work at West End of Nave, 22. Mere Church— 
Raised Organ Arch between Chancel and North Chapel, 22 


Fourteenth Century Wall Decoration in the Hall of the Sub-Chantry House, 
Salisbury (destroyed 1849), 96. Mizmaze on Breamore Down, Hants, near 
Downton, 98. Shield on the Hertford Monument in Salisbury Cathedral, 118. 
Map to illustrate the position of Wells, &c., near Silbury, 166. Bristol Cross, 
at Stourton, Wilts, 1896, 171. Key Diagram of ditto, 172. 


The Chapel, Woodlands, Mere; and The Hall, Woodlands, Mere, 253. Chimney- 
piece in Room under Chapel, Woodlands ; and The Ship Inn, Mere, 254. Cross 
Loft in Town Hall, Mere; and Woodlands House, 256. The Market Place, 
Mere, 317. 


(Any Member whose name or address is incorrectly printed in this List 
is requested to communicate with the Financial Secretary.) 


WILTSHIRE 


Archeological and Batucal Bistory Society. 


DECEMBER, I896. 


Patron: 
Tar Most HonovraBte THE MArQuvIS OF LANSDOWNE. 


President : 
C. H. Tauzot, Esq. 


Vice-Presidents : 


William Cunnington, Esq., ¥F.G.S. Charles Penruddocke, Esq. 
Sir Gabriel Goldney, Bart. The Right Rev. The Lord Bishop of 
Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P. Salisbury 
The Right Hon. Earl Nelson Nevil | Story-Maskelyne, sq., 
Rev. H. A. Olivier F.RS. 
Lt.-General Pitt-Rivers, D.C L., Rey. A. C. Smith 

F.R.S., F.S.A. 

Trustees : 

Sir Edmund Antrobus, Bart. The Most Hon. the Marquis of 
William Cunnington, Esq., F.G:S. Lansdowne 
G. T. J. Sotheron Estcourt, Esq. Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P. 
G. P. Fuller, Esq. The Right Hon. Earl Nelson 
Sir Gabriel Goldney, Bart. Charles Penruddocke, Esq. 


The Committee consists of the following Gentlemen, in addition to the 
Honorary Officers of the Society : 


J. I. Bowes, Esq., Devizes C. F. Hart, Esq., Devizes 
Henry Brown, Esq., Blacklands Rev. C. W. Hony, Bishops Cannings 
Park, Calne [Devizes Rev. A. B. Thynne, Seend e 


Edward Cook, Esq., Walden Lodge, 


Honorary General Secretaries : 
H. E. Medlicott, Esq., Sandfield, Potterne, Devizes 
Rev. E. H. Goddard, Clyffe Pypard Vicarage, Wootton Bassett 


Honorary General Curators : 
A. B. Fisher, Esq., Potterne 
B. H. Cunnington, Esq., Devizes 


Honorary Librarian: 
W. Heward Bell, Esq., Cleeve House, Seend, Melksham. 


Honorary Local Secretaries : 
Harold Brakspear, Esq., A.R.I.B.A., 


C. E. Ponting, Esq. F.S.A., 
Corsham Marlborough 
J. W. Brooke, Esq., Marlborough J. Farley Rutter, Esq., Mere 
W. Forrester, Hsq., Malmesbury Arthur Schomberg, Esq., Seend, 


C. W. Holgate, Esq., Salisbury 
H. Kinneir, Esq., Swindon 
W. F. Morgan, Esq., Warminster 


Rey. J. Penrose, West Ashton, 
Trowbridge 


Melksham 
‘J. R. Shopland, Esq., Pwrton 
Henry Wilkins, Esq., Calne 


Honorary Treasurer : 
C. E. H. A. Colston, Esq., M.P., Roundway Park, Devizes. 


Honorary Auditor : 
G. 8. A. Waylen, Esq, Devizes. 


Financial Secretary: 
Mr. David Owen, 31, Long Street, Devizes. 


LIST OF SOCIETIES, &C., IN UNION WITH THE 


Wiltshire Archeological and Aatural Pistory Society, 
For interchange of Publications, ge. 


Society of Antiquaries of London 
Royal Archzxological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 
British Archzological Association 
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 
Kent Archeological Society 
Somersetshire Archxological Society 
Oxford Architectural and Historical Society 
Essex Archeological Society 
Essex Field Club 
Bath Antiquarian and Natural History Field Clab 
Bristol and Gloucestershire Archeological Society 
Clifton Antiquarian Club 
Herts Natural History Society 
Powysland Club 
East Riding Antiquarian Society, Yorks 
United States Geological Survey 
Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D.C., United States 
Hampshire Field Club. 


Teist of MQembers. 


Life Members : 


Awdry, Charles, 2, Hyde Park Street, 
London, W. 

Bruce, Lord Charles, Wilton House, 
Eaton Square, London, S.W. 

Crewe, Earl of, Crewe Hall, Cheshire 

Ellis, Rev. J. H., 29, Collingham 
Gardens, South Kensington, Lon- 


don, S.W. 

Fitzmaurice, Lord KE, Leigh, 
B radford-on-Avon 

Grove, Sir Thomas Fraser, Bart., 


Ferne, Salisbury 
Hawkesbury, Baron, 2, Carlton House 
Terrace, Pall Mall, London, S.W. 
Holgate, Clifford W., The Palace, 
Salisbury 
Lansdowne, Most Hon. Marquis of, 
Bowood, Calne [penham 
Lowndes, E. C., Castle Combe, Chip- 
Lubbock, Sir J. W., Bart., M.P., 15, 
Lombard Street, London, E.C. 


Annual 


Adderley Library, Librarian of, 
Marlborough College 

Ailesbury, Marquis of, Tottenham 
House, Marlborough 

Anstie, E. L., Park Dale, Devizes 

Anstie, G. E., 31, Market Place, 
Devizes ‘ 

Anstie, T. B., Devizes 

Archer, Col. D., Lushill House, 
Highworth 

Arundel of Wardour, Rt. Hon. Lord, 
Wardour Castle, Tisbury, Salisbury 

Atkins, S. R., The Mount, Elm Grove, 
Salisbury 

Awdry, Rev. E. C., Chippenham 

Awdry, Rev. E. Seymour, Seend 
Cottage, Melksham 

Awdry, Justly W., The Paddocks, 
Chippenham 

Awdry, Rev. W. H., Ludgershall, 
Andover 


Baker, T. H., Mere, Bath 

Ballard, F. P., Wootton Bassett 

Barnwell, Rey. C. E. B., Southbroom, 
Devizes 


\ 


- Wyndham, 


Lushington, Sir Godfrey, 16, Great 
Queen Street, Westminster, London, 
S.W 


Meux, Sir Henry B., Bart., Dauntsey 
House, Chippenham 

Mullings, John, Cirencester 

Neeld, Sir <A. Bart., Grittleton, 
Chippenham 

Penruddocke, C., Compton Park, 
Salisbury 

Penruddocke, C., Jun., Bratton St. 
Maur, Wincanton, Bath 

Prior, Dr. R. C. A., 48, York Terrace, 
Regent’s Park, London, N.W. 

Salisbury, the Rt. Rev. the Lord 
Bishop of, the Palace, Salisbury 

Selfe,H., Springhill, St. Mary Bourne, 
Andover, Hants 

the Hon. Percy, 44, 

Belgrave Square, London, S.W. 


Subseribers : 


Bartlett, Rev. R. G., Corfe Castle, 
Wareham, Dorset 
Baskett, Kev. J. G. K., The Rectory, 
Donhead St. Andrew, Salisbury 
Bath, The Most Hon. the Marquis of, 
Longleat, Warminster 
Batten, John, Aldon, Yeovil 
Baumgarten, Capt. E. P., Oare House, © 
Pewsey on-Avon 
Beddoe, Dr., The Chantry, Bradford- 
Bell, Rev. Canon G. C., The Lodge, 
Marlborough College [Melksham 
Bell, W.Heward,F.G.S., Seend Cleeve, 
Bennett,Rev.Canon F., 6, The Beacon, 
Exmouth 
Bennett, T. J., M.D., Steventon 
House, Steventon, Berks 
Bennett, W. S., Tower House, Chalvey 
Park, Slough, Bucks [Salisbury 
Bernard, Rev. Canon E. &., The Close, 
Bethell, S., Oak Lea, Calne 
Bingham, Rev. W. P. S., Kenton 
Vicarage, Exeter 
Blackmore, Dr. H. P., Salisbury 
Blake, Henry, Elmhurst, Trowbridge 
Bond, Rev. Canon John, Steeple 
Ashton Vicarage, Trowbridge 


iv LISt OF MEMBERs. 


Bourne, Rev. G. H., D.C.L., St. 
Edmund’s College, Salisbury 

Bouverie, E. O. P., The Old House, 
Market Lavington [Devizes 

Bowes, J. I., Wilts County Asylum, 

Bradford, J. E. G., 16, Marlborough 
Buildings, Bath [sham 

Brakspear, Harold, The Priory, Cor- 

Britton, Mrs. Helen, 39, Croydon 
Grove, West Croydon, Surrey 

Brodribb, Rev. W. J., Wootton 
Rivers, Marlborough [borough 

Brooke, J. W., The Green, Marl- 

Brown, H., Blacklands Park, Calne 

Brown, Henry, Salisbury 

Brown, Rey. R. G., Little Somerford 
Rectory, Chippenham 

Brown, W., Church House, Potterne 

Brown, Sir W. R., Highfield, Trow- 
bridge 

Brown, Rev. Canon E. Slater, 
Cholderton House, Salisbury 

Brownlow, Rt. Rev. W. R., D.D., 
Bishop’s House, Clifton, Bristol 

Buchanan, Ven. Archdeacon, Poulshot 
Rectory, Devizes 

Buckley, Alfred, New Hall, Boden- 
ham, Salisbury 

Buckley, Rev.Canon Felix J., Stanton 
St. Quintin, Chippenham [Swindon 

Buller, Mrs. Tremayne, Chiseldon, 

Bullock, William B., Pewsey 

Bush. J, 10, St. Augustine’s Parade, 
Bristol 

Bush, J. J., Hilperton Grange, 
Trowbridge [Bath 

Bush, Robert C., Winifred’s Dale, 

Butt, Rev. W. A., Minety Vicarage, 
Malmesbury 

Butterworth, G. M., Swindon 


Caillard, His Honour Judge, Wing- 
field, Trowbridge 

Caird, R. H., Southbroom, Devizes 

Calley,Rev.J.H.,Figheldean Vicarage, 
Salisbury 

Carey, Rev. T., Ebbesborne-Wake, 
Salisbury 

Carless, Dr., Devizes 

Carpenter, Joseph, Burcombe Manor, 
Salisbury 

Cary, J., Steeple Ashton, Trowbridge 


Chafyn-Grove, G. Troyte, North 
Coker House, Yeovil 
Chamberlaine, Rev. E., Maiden 


Bradley Vicarage, Bath 


es —~., 


Chamberlaine, Rev. W. H., Keevil 

Chandler, Thomas, Devizes 

Chandler, T. H., Rowde, Devizes 

Chandler, W., Aldbourne, Hungerford 

Clark, Major T., Trowbridge 

Clark, Rev. W. Gilchrist, 21, St. 
Bede’s Terrace, Gateshead-on-Tyne 

Clarke, Miss M., Prospect House, 
Devizes 

Crespi, Dr. A. J. H., Wimborne 

Cleather, Rev. G. E., The Vicarage, 
Brixton Deverill, Warminster 

Colbourne, Thomas, Ensleigh, Lans- 
downe, Bath 

Coleman, A., Wootton Bassett 

Colston, C. E. H. A., M.P.,Roundway 
Park, Devizes 

Coney, Col., Sunnyside, Box, Wilts 

Cook, Edward, Walden Lodge, Devizes 

Corke, Rev. H. A., Bradenstoke 
Vicarage, Chippenham 

Cunnington, B. H., Devizes 

Cunnington, Mrs. S., Southgate 
House, Devizes 

Cunnington, William, F.G.S, 58, 
Acre Lane, Brixton, London, S.W. 

Curtis, C. W., c/o Messrs. Curtis & 
Harvey, 74, Lombard Street, 
London, S.W. 


Dartnell, G. E., Abbottsfield House, 
Stratford Road, Salisbury 

Davis, B., Corsley House, Warminster 

Davis, Rev. W. H.,Avebury Vicarage, 
Calne 

Davis,’ Rev. Weston B., The Vicarage, 
Ramsbury 

Dear, George, Codford St. Peter, Bath 

Devenish, Matthew H. W.,Westleigh, 
Salisbury 

Dixon, 8. B., Pewsey 

Dowding, Miss M. K., Chippenham 

Dowding,Rev.W.,Idmiston, Salisbury 

Du Boulay, Rev. F. H., Heddington, 
Calne 

Dugdale, Rey. S., Motcombe, Shaftes- 
bury 

Dunn, Col. T. D., Rowdeford House, 
Devizes 


Eddrupp, Rev. Canon E. P., Bremhill, 


Calne 
Edgell, Rev. E. B., Bromham, Chip- 
penham 


LISY OF MEMBERS. Vv 


Edmeades, Rev. M. R., Great Bedwyn 
Vicarage, Hungerford 

Elyard, St. J., Holmwood, South 
Norwood Park, S.E. 

Estcourt, G. T. J. Sotheron, Estcourt, 
Tetbury 

Hstridge, H. W., Minety House, 
Malmesbury 

Ewart, Miss, Coneyhurst, Ewhurst, 
Guildford 

Ewart, Miss M., Broadleas, Devizes 

Hyre, G. E. Briscoe, Warrens, Bram- 
shaw, near Lyndhurst,}Hants 

Eyres, Edwin, Lacock, Chippenham 

Fisher, A. B., Court Hill, Potterne 

Forrester, William, Malmesbury 

Fox, C. F.,Capital and Counties Bank, 
High Wycombe, Bucks 

Fox, F. F., Yate House, Chipping 
Sodbury, Gloucestershire 

Fox, H. E., Jeune House, Salisbury 

Fox, J. R., London Road, Devizes 

Fowler, Sir Thomas, Bart., The Elms, 
Corsham 

Fuller, G. P., 
Corsham 


Neston Park, 


Gabriel, C. W., Vale Lodge, Weston, 
Bath 

Gardiner, Rev. W., St. Mary’s Vicar- 
age, Marlborough 


Gladstone, John E., Bowden Park, 


Chippenham 

Goddard, Ambrose Iu., Swindon 

Goddard, Rev. C. V., Maddington 
Vicarage, Shrewton (S.O.), Wilts 

Goddard, Rev. E. H., Clyffe Pypard, 
Wootton Bassett 

Goddard, H. Nelson, Clyffe Pypard 
Manor, Wootton Bassett 

Godwin, J. G., 120, Cambridge St., 
Pimlico, London, 8.W. 

Goldney, F. H., Prior Place, Cam- 
berley, Surrey 

Goldney, Sir Gabriel, Bart., Beech- 
field, Corsham 

Gray, A. Murray, Melksham 

Grose, Samuel, M.D., Valetta, Thur- 
low Road, Torquay 

Gwatkin, R. G., Manor House, 
Potterne 


| Gwillim, E. LL, Marlborough 


G.W.R. Mechanics’ Institute, Secre- 
tary of, New Swindon 


Haden, J. Poynton, Hill View, Trow- 
bridge 

Hadow, Rev. G. R., Calstone Rectory, 
Calne 


Harding, John, Milford Grove, 


Salisbury 
Harmer, G. H., Apsley Villa, Ciren- 
cester [Calne 


Harris, Henry W., The Woodlands, 

Harris, Thomas, South Place, Calne 

Hart, C. F., Devizes 

Hawley, Capt. W., R.E., c/o Col. 
Waddington, Figheldean House, 
Salisbury 

Hayward, Rev.S.C., Pilsley Vicarage, 
Chesterfield, Derbyshire 

Haywood, T. B., Woodhatch Lodge, 
Reigate 

Heytesbury, The Rt. Hon. Lord, 
Heytesbury 

Hill, Rev. A. Du Boulay, Downton 
Vicarage, Salisbury 

Hill, Rev. Geoffrey, Harnham Vicar- 
age, Salisbury 

Hill, James L., Bulford Manor, 
Amesbury 

Hill, Mrs. H. W., 111, Red Lion 
Square, W.C. 

Hillier, H. W., 21, High Street, 
Marlborough 

Hoare, Sir Henry H. A., Bart., The 
Cottage, Stourton, Bath 

Hobhouse, C. E., The Ridge, Corsham 

Hobhouse, Sir C. P., Bart., Monkton 
Farleigh, Bradford-on-Avon 

Hony, Rev. C. W., Bishops Cannings 

Hoskings, H., Hungerford 

Hulse, Sir Edward, Bart., Breamore, 
Hants 

Hurry, J. S., Devizes 

Hutchinson, Rev. T. N., Broad 
Chalke Vicarage, Salisbury 

Hutchings, Rev. Canon R. S., Alder- 
bury, Salisbury 


Inman, Rev. Canon E., Potterne 
Vicarage, Devizes 


Jackson, Joseph, Devizes 
Jacob, J. H., The Close, Salisbury 


V1 LIST OF MEMBERS. 


Jennings, J. C. S., Abbey House, 
Malmesbury 

Johnson, Rev. J. A., Biddestone 
Rectory, Chippenham 

Johnstone, Rev. C. J., Stockton Rec- 
tory, Codford St. Mary, Bath 

Jones, W. H. Hammond, Tigbourne, 
Witley, Surrey 

Jones, W. S., Milbourne, Malmesbury 


Kelland, J., Canal, Salisbury 

Kemble, Rev. A., Vicarage, Berwick 
St. John, Salisbury 

Kemm, Thomas, Avebury, Calne 

Kenrick, Mrs., Keevil, Trowbridge 

King, Rev. G. A., Hasterton Vicarage, 
Devizes 

King, Walter E., Donhead Lodge, 
Salisbury 

Kinneir, H., Redville, Swindon 


Lambert, Rev. R. U., Christchurch 
Vicarage, Bradford-on-Avon 

Lansdown, G., Wingfield Road, 
Trowbridge 

Laverton, W. H., Leighton, Westbury 

Lawrence, W. F., M.P., Cowesfield, 
Salisbury 

Lea, J.Henry, Cedarhurst, Fairhaven, 
Mass., U.S.A. 

Lear, Ven. Archdeacon, Bishopstone 
Rectory, Salisbury 

Leslie, Thomas, 
Wootton Bassett 

Lewis, Harold, B.A., Wereury Office, 
Bristol 

Literary and Philosophic Club—A.B. 
Prowse, Esq., M.D., Hon. Librarian, 
28, Berkeley Square, Bristol 

Llangattock, The Rt. Hon. Lord, The 
Hendre, Monmouth 

Llewellen, J., New Park Street, 
Devizes 

Long, Frederick W.,Courtfield House, 
Trowbridge 

Long, Rt. Hon. W. H., M.P., Rood 
Ashton, Trowbridge 

Long, Col. William, Woodlands, 
Congresbury (R.S.O.) Somerset 


Laurel Villa, 


Longbourne, J. V., Seend House, 
Melksham 

Lowe, Charles H., Rowde, Devizes 

Luckman, Rey. W. G., Castle Eaton 
Rectory, Fairford 


Mackay, James, Trowbridge 

Mackay, William, Trowbridge 

Magrath, Col., Ban-aboo, Co. Wex- 
ford, Ireland 

Manley, Rev. F. H., Somerford 
Magna Rectory, Chippenham 

Mann, William J., Trowbridge 

Marlborough College Natural History 
Society— President of, The.College, 
Marlborough 

Marshall, J. T., Etchilhampton 
House, Devizes 

Maskelyne, N. Story, F.R.S., Bassett 
Down, Swindon, Wilts 

Master, Rev. G. S., Bourton Grange, 
Flax Bourton, Bristol 

Matcham, William E., New House, 


Salisbury 

Mayo, Rev. R. Ivy House, 
Corsham 

MeNiven, C. F., Puckshipton, Marl- 
borough 


Mead, G. H., Devizes 

Meade, Rev. the Hon. S., Frankleigh 
House, Bradford-on-Avon 

Medlicott, H. £E.,  Sandfield, 
Potterne 

Meek, A. Grant, Hillworth House, 
Devizes 

Meek, H. Edgar, Devizes 

Merewether, Rev. W. A. S., North 
Bradley Vicarage, Trowbridge 

Merriman, KE. B., Marlborough 

Merriman, R. W., Marlborough 

Merriman, T. Mark,25,Austin Friars, 
London, E.C. 

Methuen, Major-Gen. Lord, Corsham 
Court 

Milford, Rev. R. N., East Knoyle 
Rectory, Salisbury 

Milling, Rev. M. J. T., Vicarage, 
Ashton Keynes, Cricklade 

Mitchell, Arthur C., High Grove, 
Tetbury, Gloucestershire 

Morgan, W. F., Warminster 

Morrice, Rev. Canon W. D., Holy 
Trinity Vicarage, Weymouth 


LIST OF MEMBERS. Vil 


Moulton, John, The Hall, Bradford- 
on-Avon 

Mullings, Richard B., Woodville, 
Devizes 

Myers, Rev. C., St. Martin’s Rectory, 
Salisbury 


Nelson, Rt. Hon. Eavrl, Trafalgar, 
Salisbury [Salisbury 
Nelson, Rt. Hon. Countess, Trafalgar, 
Nightingale, Miss, The Mount, Wilton 
Normanton, the Rt. Hon. Earl of, 22, 
Ennismore Gardens, London, 8.W. 


Oliver, Andrew, 7, Bedford Row, 
London, W.C. 

Olivier, Rev. Canon Dacres, Wilton, 
Salisbury 

Olivier, Rev. H. A., Shapley Hill, 
Winchfield 

Owen, D., 31, Long Street, Devizes 


Palmer, George Ll., Trowbridge 

Palmer, Rev. H. C., The Lodge, 
West Lavington, Devizes 

Parsons, W. F., Hunt’s Mill, Wootton 
Bassett 

Pass, Alfred C., The Holmes, Stoke 
Bishop, Bristol 

Passmore, A. D., Swindon 

Pattisson, Rev. J., Whiteparish 
Vicarage, Salisbury, 

Paul, A. H., The Close, Tetbury 

Pedder, Lt.-Col., Ogbourne St.George, 
Marlborough 

Penrose, Rev. J., West Ashton 
Vicarage, Trowbridge 

Penruddocke, Rev. J. H., Baverstock 
Rectory, Salisbury 

Phillips, Miss E., The Vicarage 
Warminster 

Pinniger, Henry W., Westbury 

Pitt-Rivers, Lt. Gen. Lane Fox, 
F.R.S.,F.S.A.,Rushmore, Salisbury 

Plenderleath, Rev. W. C., Mamhead 
Rectory, Exeter 

Ponting, C. E., F.S.A., Marlborough 

Poore, Major R., Old Lodge, Newton 
Toney, Salisbury 

Porter, Alfred, 10, Fore Street, Trow- 
bridge 


Powell, JohnU., Boreham, Warminster 

Poynder, Sir J. Dickson, Bart., M.P., 
Hartham Park, Corsham 

Pye-Smith, E.F., The Close, Salisbury 


Radcliffe, C. H., Salisbury 

Radcliffe, F. R. Y., 1, Mitre Court 
Buildings, Temple, London, E.C. 

Radnor, Right Hon. Earl, Longford 
Castle, Salisbury 

Radnor, Right Hon. Countess of, 
Longford Castle, Salisbury 

Randell, J. A., Devizes 

Ravenhill, W. W., 10, King’s Bench 
Walk, Temple, London, E.C. 

Rawlence, F. A., Bulbridge House, 
Wilton 

Redman, T. E., Castle Fields, 
Calne 

Rich, Sir C. H. S., Bart. F.S.A., 
Devizes’ Castle 

Richardson, H., Littlefield, Marl- 
borough 

Richmond, Rev. Canon T. K., The 
Abbey, Carlisle 

Robbins, Rev. M., Stoke House, 
Camberley, Surrey 

Rodway, E. B., Adcroft House, Trow- 
bridge 

Rogers, F. N., Rainscombe, Pewsey 

Ross, Rev. A. G. Gordon, 11, Park 
Lane, New Swindon 

Rumboll, Charles A., 15, Orange 
Grove, Bath 

Rumsey, D. G. Wilson, Devizes 

Rutter, J. F., Mere, Bath 

Ryder, Rev. A. C. D., The Rectory, 
Trowbridge 


Salisbury, The Very Rev. the Dean 
of, The Deanery, Salisbury 
Savory, Judge A. W., Annapolis 
Royal, Nova Scotia 
Schomberg, Arthur, Seend,Melksham 
Schomberg, E. C., Seend, Melksham 
Selman, Jacob, Clapcote, Grittleton 
Seymour, Rev. C. F., c/o C. B. 
Seymour, Sherwoods, Winchfield 
Shaw-Stewart, R., Berwick 
House, Hindon, Salisbury 
Short, Rev. W. F., The Rectory, 
Donhead St. Mary, Salisbury 
Shopland, James R., Purton, Swindon 
ear F., 17, Norfolk Cresent, 
a 


vill LIST OF MEMBERS. 


Simpson, Cecil, Ardenne, Nightingale 
Lane, Balham, 8.W. 

Simpson, G., Jun., Market Place, 
Devizes 

Skrine, H. D., Claverton Manor, Bath 

Sloper, Edwin, Dashwood House, 
9, New Broad Street, London, H.C. 

Sloper, George O., Westrop House, 
Highworth 

Slow, Edward, Wilton 

Smith, Rev. A. C., Old Park, Devizes 

Smith, H. Herbert, Buckhill, Calne 

Smith, J. A., Market Place, Devizes 

Smith, Rev. L. A., F.R.G.S., Little 
Bedwyn Vicarage, Hungerford 

Soames, C. E., St. Clement’s Inn, 
W.C. 

Soames, Rev. Gordon, Mildenhall 
Rectory, Marlborough 

Spencer-Smith, Rev. O., Landford 
Lodge, Salisbury 

Spicer, Capt. John E. P., Spye Park, 
Chippenham 

Stancomb, J. Perkins, The Prospect, 
Trowbridge 

Stancomb, W., Blounts’ Court, Pot- 
terne 

Stanford, J. Benett, Pyt House, 
Tisbury, Salisbury 

Still, Rev. J., Halstock Vicarage, 
Yeovil {ham 

Stokes, D. J., Rowden Hill, Chippen- 

Stratton, William, Kingston Deverill, 
Warminster 

Strong, Rev. A., St. Paul’s Rectory, 
Chippenham 

Strong, Rev. W., St. Paul’s Rectory, 
Chippenham 

Swinhoe, Dr. Park House, New 
Swindon 


Tait, E. S., M.D., 48, Highbury Park, 
London, N. {penham 

Talbot, C. H., Lacock Abbey, Chip- 

Tatum, Edward J.,Solicitor, Salisbury 

Taylor, G. C., M.D., Lovemead 
House, Trowbridge 

Taylor, S. Watson, Erlestoke Park, 
Devizes 

Thomas, J. P., Warneford Place, 
Highworth, Wilts 

Thomas, Rev. J. H., Hillingdon 
Manor Road, Salisbury 

Thynne, Rev. A. B., Seend, Melksham 

Toppin, Rev. G. Pilgrim, Broad Town 
Vicarage, Wootton Bassett 


Torrance, Mrs., Norton House, War- 
minster 

Trepplin, E.. C., F.S.A., Vasterne 
Manor House, Wootton Bassett 

Tucker, A., Hilleote, Salisbury 

Tucker, Silas, Spencer House, Lark- 
hall Rise, Clapham, London, 8.W. 


Usher, Ephraim, Ethandune, Hil- 
perton Road, Trowbridge 


Wakeman, Herbert J., Warminster 

Walker, Rev. R. Z., Boyton Rectory, 
Bath 

Walker, William, Longfield House, 
Trowbridge 

Walters, Rev. J. V., Cherhill Rectory, 
Calne 

Ward, Col. M. F., Upton Park, 
Slough 

Waldron, James, Marridge Hill, 
Ramsbury, Wilts 

Warre, Rev. Canon F., Vicarage, 
Bemerton, Salisbury 

Watts, John I., Whistley, Potterne, 
Devizes 

Waylen, G. 8. A., Devizes 

Waylen, R. F., Devizes 

Wayte, Rev. W., 6, Onslow Square, 
London, S.W. 

Welch, Rev. J. ¥., St. Boniface 
College, Warminster 

Whinfield, E. H., St. Margaret’s, 
Beulah Hill, Norwood, London,S.E. 

Whytehead, Rev. H. R., St. Peter’s 
Vicarage, Marlborough 

Wilkins, Henry, High Street, Calne 

Williams, Rev. C. F. W. T., Fid- 
dington House, Market Lavington, 
Devizes 

Willis, F. M., Elmside, Oldfield Park, 
Bath 

Wilson, J., M.A., Lancaster House, 
Balham, London, 8.W. 

Wood, Rev. §. Theodore, Hilperton 
Rectory, Trowbridge 

Wyld, Rev. C. N., 
Salisbury 

Wyld, Rev. Edwin G., Vicarage, 
Melksham 


Burcombe 


Yates, Pardoe, Glencairn, Wilton 
Yeo, D. J., The Banks, Lyneham, 
Chippenham 


si a a ta tliat Nia i 


THE 


WILTSHIRE 


Archealagval ont Batural Bistory 


MAGAZINE, 


Mere Church, South-East. Showing Bettesthorne Chapel 20 


Mere Church. Rood Screen, and nee across North 
Aisle, giving access to it .......e.ce000 20 


Mere Church. Showing Harly Work eS “West End of 
NAO: ssansnpuive epeedtenatsedaseircbachekechncans'ers-Wecns 22 


Mere Church. Raised Organ Arch between Chancel and 
DI GEGH CHADOM seam essence teaestsecossceynsiecescsvecccteceees 22 


DEVIZES:—Hvugry & Pearson, 4, St. Jonn STREET. 


No. LXXXVI. DECEMBER, 1896. Vout. XXIX. 
Contents. PAGE 

Report OF THE WILTSHIRE ARCHZOLOGICAL AND Natural HistoRy 
Society FOR THE YEAR JULY, 1895—JULY, 1896............cessecees 1 
THe SKULL oF THE PorET CRaBBE: By Clifford W. Holgate, M.A.... 3 
Notes on Recent Discoverizs at Lacock Asser: By C. H. Talbot 1l 
_ Tse Pagiso Cuurca or S. Micuaz1, Mere: ByC. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 20 
OccURRENCE OF THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER IN WILTS wesssssse 70 
ETE BO) UNE ALY, 9.80528, eek e sac At bah sled oiaulee'sscdepleieatode swale cucasereesmenses 72 
Witts Booxs, PaMPHLETS, ARTICLES, S&C. veccccsccseccesssssecveceesveures 74 
PUEEITONG: TO, LT BRARY s,cscnccnesccseccaaessecvcacdectacscseess eZ ote spenbeko 84 
See NCEI TENS VER HIT ME? (ov s'svigeccavidetateaceseescesdacneesececdvesss cucechucsess 86 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 


i) 


wile fig 


slweineD 
MW ORR aA hornet OH Pits #e vag 
Wt 1715 Seat ee das #4 
te vee ‘earn ens Ziz3 

voheaak v4 prae t eee of 


: eo tH Man Ko 


* 
tu maw va 


old) ne whe dee vein » te 


as bad soh dd kei veins 
¥u Denes eeu tAT 


a ee saber iv 


; civic, 
we Book regs > pe 
he : ob Miche ro iy’ pulntdy: ahi 
ite yb a hwoadl ‘oad 
soiaicbetiea ab vt previ A ane saad te 
ad eerhiad. ty Ch tne Aaizdes 7 ie * 
Mav hace i cdasel is cot 0 ce pe. Magee aia ew 


v | ten it) 


1 ee 
con RIF asst ee 


——— 


WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE. 


“MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS. ’—Ovid. 


DECEMBER, 1896. 


Areport of the Wiltshire Archwological and 
Aatural History Society 
For the Bear Julv, 1895-——July, 1896. 


[Read at the General Meeting, at Salisbury, July 14th, 1896.] 


¢¢G@QwG HE increase in the number of Members of the Society 

(which the Committee hoped would have progressed until 
there were at least four hundred upon the list) has not been main- 
tained, for the loss of ten Members by resignation and eleven by 
death since the Ist July, 1895, whilst only nine new Members have 
been elected, has reduced the total to three hundred and eighty-two. 
Notices of some of those removed by death have appeared in the 
Magazine. It is hoped that every effort will be made by the Local 
Secretaries and other friends to keep up our numbers. 

“A copy of the accounts for the year 1895 appears in the last 
Magazine. We regret to observe that the amount of subscriptions 
received within the twelve months is considerably less than in 1894. 
Prompt payment of subscriptions at the commencement of the year 
would be greatly appreciated. There is a falling off in the amount 
received from visitors to the Museum. Had it not been for the 
very handsome contribution to the Society’s funds handed over by 


the Local Committee at Corsham, after last year’s Meeting there, 


the receipts would have been much less satisfactory than the account 
shows them to be. 
VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVI. B 


2 Report of the Society for the Year 1895-6. 


“The cost of additions made to the Library and Museum of the 
Society is again considerable, but the Committee consider it desirable 
to continue their efforts to make the Library as complete a collection 
of books relating to Wiltshire or written by Wiltshire authors as 
means will allow. Amongst the items purchased during the past 
year are a considerable number of drawings and prints, which will 
add much to the value and completeness of the Society’s collections. 
In this matter the Committee confidently appeal to the whole county, 
for whereas in respect of local antiquities the excellent Salisbury 
and South Wilts Museum naturally competes for their possession 
with the Society’s Museum at Devizes, in the formation of a library 
on the other hand, which shall by degrees become a place of 
reference for all Wiltshire books, pamphlets, drawings, and prints, 
our Society comes into competition with no other institution, and 
therefore looks to the south of the county equally with the north for 
help in the way of gifts of old or new books, original drawings, prints, 
or portraits, in any way whatever connected with Wiltshire. A 
catalogue of the collection of prints and drawings, now in the 
Society’s possession, is practically finished, and will be printed as 
soon as possible. 

“The catalogue of the Stourhead Collection has proved a more 
considerable task than was anticipated. It has been thought 
desirable to illustrate it as fully as possible, and this has taken a 
good deal of time and attention. It will, it is hoped, prove to be 
one of the most important publications of the Society. The col- 
lection is recognised far beyond the limits of the county to be one 
of very great interest. Numbers 84 and 85 of the Magazine have 
been issued during the year. 

“In these days of amateur photography, the Committee would 
call special attention to the report on Photographic Surveys bound 
up with No, 84. It contains many useful suggestions. 

“Unfortunately no member of the Committee was able to attend 
the annual Congress of Archeological Societies at Burlington House, 
in 1895. 

“ Among architectural works which have been undertaken in the 
county during the year the great enterprise of securing the safety 


The Skull of the Poet Crabbe. 3 


of the Cathedral tower and spire is of course the most important. 
It is proposed by the Committee to hand over to the Repair Fund, 
as a donation from the Society, any surplus which the Local Com- 
mittee may be able to place in their hands after the Meeting. Of 
other works the restoration of Imber Church has been carried out 
in an admirably conservative way. The Committee would especially 
draw attention to the way in which the colouring on the walls has 
been preserved without losing its interest, as is too often the case, by 
being “restored.” The question of the proposed removal of the 
tower and nave of Leigh Church, in the north of the county, has 
been brought before the Committee by the Society for the Protection 
of Ancient Buildings. The Committee feel that it is a difficult 
question, that much may be said on both sides, and they therefore 
hesitate to express any opinion on the matter. 

“There is an account in the last number of the Magazine of the 
interesting Meeting at Corsham last summer. 

“This year we re-visit Salisbury after an interval of nine years, 
An admirable programme has been prepared by Mr. Doran Webb, 
to whom the Committee is greatly indebted for undertaking so much 
work as he has done and doing all in his power to ensure a very 
successful Meeting.” 


Che Shull of the Poet Crabbe. 


By Cuirrorp W. Hoteare, M.A. 


SHE Poet Crabbe, though not a Wiltshireman by birth, has 

still strong claims upon the interest of Wiltshiremen, 
owing to the last eighteen years of his life having been spent in the 
county, as Rector of the Parish Church of St. James’, Trowbridge. 
I am surprised, therefore, that no mention has ever been made in 
the Magazine of the incident connected with his remains which I am 


B 2 


4 The Skull of the Poet Crabbe. 


about to narrate. Indeed, the only reference I can find to the poet, 
at all, in the Magazine, relates to his collection of fossils, and other 
memorials of him which were exhibited in the temporary Museum, 
in the County Hall, Trowbridge, in August, 1872, at the nineteenth 
Meeting of the Society (Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xiii., p. 315). 

The Dean of Salisbury, the Very Rev. G. D. Boyle, however, 
chose Crabbe as the first subject for his pen in a series of articles 
on “ Wiltshire Worthies,” in the quarterly magazine known as 
Warminster Work, vol. iv., No. 1, pp. 1—8, for April, 1893, and 
he writes thus of the only poem of Crabbe’s which can be reckoned 
as a Wiltshire work :— 


“In the ‘Tales of the Hall’ there are passages of great beauty, that show 
how thoroughly and completely the poet had imbibed the true spirit of English 
scenery, and the true character of the working men of England.” 


The standard life of Crabbe is that by his son, the Rev. George 
Crabbe, prefixed to the collected edition of the poet’s works in eight 
volumes, published in 1834, and afterwards issued complete, in one 
volume, by Murray, in 1847, and subsequently ; and to that, those 
who wish to read the story of his strange and interesting career 
should turn. A handy little “Life” by T. E. Kebbel, in the 
“Great Writers’ series, was published in 1888, and this has a 
bibliography by J. P. Anderson, of the British Museum. 

Crabbe’s connection with Wiltshire began in 1814, in which 
year, on March 18th, he was instituted by the then Bishop of 
Salisbury, John Fisher, D.D., to the Rectory of St. James, 
Trowbridge, on the presentation of John Henry, fifth Duke of 
Rutland—who was the poet’s generous and unvarying patron— - 
the benefice being vacant by the cession of the Rev. Gilbert 
Beresford. His induction to the benefice, which was then a 
peculiar of the Bishop’s, did not take place until June 3rd, 1814, 
and he remained rector until his death on February 3rd, 1832, 
aged 77. 

Crabbe’s literary work—his last, after his coming to Trowbridge, 
consisted in his Zales of the Hall, written in the years 1817-18, 
and published in two vols. 8vo, in June, 1819. For this, and for 


By Clifford W. Holgate, M.A. 5 


the remaining copyright of all his previous poems, Murray paid 
him the sum of £3000. A letter from Thomas Moore, the poet, 
to Murray, dated January Ist, 1834, is quoted in Crabbe’s Life, 
giving an account of the transaction, which ended as follows :— 

“When he received the bills for 3000/7. we earnestly advised that he should, 
without delay, deposit them in some safe hands; but no—he must ‘take them 
with him to Trowbridge, and show them to his son John. They would hardly 
believe in his good luck, at home, if they did not see the bills.’ On his way 
down to Trowbridge, a friend at Salisbury, at whose house he rested (Mr. 
Everett, the banker), seeing that he carried these bills loosely in his waistcoat 
pocket, requested to be allowed to take charge of them for him, but with equal 
ill-success. ‘There was no fear,’ he said, ‘ of his losing them, and he must show 
them to his son John.’”’ 


Sermons, perhaps, hardly count as literary work, though those 
which relate to events in the county will have to be reckoned with 
when the bibliography of Wilts is undertaken. Mention, however, 
may be made of a sermon on [. Cor., x., 6, “The Variation of 
Public Opinion and Feelings, considered as it respects Religion,” 
preached before Bishop Fisher, and the Clergy of the Deanery of 
Potterne, on February 9th, 1817, at the Bishop’s Visitation, and 
published by their desire. 

Also, a volume of “ Posthumous Sermons” of Crabbe’s was 
published in 1850, edited by the then Rector of Trowbridge, the 
Rey. John David Hastings, which in all probability were all 
(twenty-one) preached in Trowbridge. From the preface to this 
collection it appears that the money for the restoration of the 
Church in 1847 being deficient, a suggestion was made that the 
publication of a collection of Crabbe’s sermons would probably 
excite interest, and the profits of sale should be given to the 
Restoration Fund. The poet’s son was appealed to, who said that 
his father’s sermons were in a rough state, and were evidently never 
intended to be published. However, though he declined to edit 
them, he eventually consented to their being published. What 
profits accrued from the sale of them I am unable to state. 

So much then, by the way, as to Crabbe’s literary work in 
connection with the county. 

After the poet’s death his body was buried in a vault on the 


6 The Skull of the Poet Crabbe. 


north side of the chancel of St. James’ Church, within the com- 
munion rails, and the parishioners of Trowbridge decided to erect 
a monument over his grave. Edward Hodges Baily, R.A., the 
famous sculptor, was chosen to execute this; it is of white marble, 
and it was placed in the Church in August, 1833. It represents 
the poet in the attitude of death, and bears the following in- 
scription :— 
Sacred 
To the Memory of 
THe Rev. G. Crasse, LL.B., 


Who died on the 3rd of February, 1832, in the 78th year of his age 
And the 18th of his services as Rector of this parish. 


Born in humble life he made himself what he was; 
Breaking through the obscurity of his birth by the force of his genius, 


Yet he never ceased to feel for the less fortunate ; 
Entering, as his works can testify, into the sorrows and wants of the poorest of his parishioners, 
And so discharging the duties of a pastor and a magistrate as to endear himself to all around him. 
As a writer he cannot be better described than in the words of a great poet—his contemporary, 


Tho’ Nature’s sternest painter, yet her best.” 


This monument was erected by some of his affectionate friends and parishioners. 


It may be noted, in passing, that this inscription, both in 
wording and setting out, differs somewhat from that given in 
Crabbe’s life, by his son, which may be found printed on page 91 
of the collected edition of Crabbe’s works, 1847, and which purports 
to be a copy of “the short and beautiful inscription judiciously 
expressed in his own native tongue,’ upon the monument. 


I now come to relate the story of the abstraction of the poet’s 
skull from his grave in 1847, and its restoration in 1876, which 
was the chief motive of this paper; and I am able to do so through 
the kindness of the family of the late Alexander Mackay, of the 
Grange, Trowbridge, who have lent me for this purpose a choicely- 
bound little book of cuttings, letters, etc., put together by Mr. 
Mackay in 1876, and entitled “ Reminiscences of the Poet Crabbe.” 
This little volume is but one example of Mr. Mackay’s carefulness 
in dealing with, and finishing up, whatever piece of good work his 
hand found to do. In this case his care was expended in dealing 
with the reparation of an act of sacrilege connected with the 


By Clifford W. Holgate, M.A. 7 


Parish Church, of which he was one of the churchwardens from 
1873 to 1895. 

To go back, then, first to the year 1847. The Rector of the 
parish then was the Rev. John David Hastings, whose tenure of 
the benefice extended from 1841 to 1869. I have ascertained that 
in 1846 the joists and flooring of the Church, and the vaults 
underneath, were found to be in a decayed and insecure state. A 
faculty, accordingly, was applied for to remove the then existing 
pews, replace the joists and flooring with new materials, repair 
extensively the vaults underneath, remove the western gallery, 
remove the organ from it to the south transept, and to remove the 
“incongruous Grecian altar piece’? from before the east window. 
The re-seating proposed was to raise the accommodation from eight 
hundred and ninety-three sittings to nine hundred and ninety-six, 
of which three hundred and thirty-seven were to be free; £1200 
was to be raised in the town by a rate of 1s. 6d. in the pound, and 
the remainder of the total estimated cost of the alterations—£6000 
—it was hoped would be raised by voluntary subscriptions in the 
town and county. A faculty for the proposed “re-pewing and 
making other alterations in and about the Parish Church ,of 
Trowbridge,’ was duly granted by the Consistorial Court of 
Salisbury on January 15th, 1847. In it no special mention was 
made of OCrabbe’s or of any other particular monuments or vaults, 
but there was the following general proviso :—“ provided that all 
monuments, tablets, or tombstones, which it shall be found necessary 
to remove for the purposes aforesaid, shall respectively be replaced 
in a proper and suitable situation, as near as conveniently may be 
to their present position.” . 

It was during the restoration and re-pewing of the Church in 
1847—fifteen years after the poet’s burial—that his remains were 
disturbed, and his skull taken away by a workman engaged in the 
work in the chancel. 

The details of what actually happened with regard to the skull, 
given in the words of the gentleman into whose hands it eventually 
came, will be quoted directly. 

The facts relating to its abstraction, as known generally, and as 


8 The Skull of the Poet Crabbe. 


to its restoration, from the most authentic source, as given in the 
Trowbridge Chronicle, are as follows :—In lowering the floor of the 
chancel at the restoration, the workmen came upon Crabbe’s grave. 
The coffin was entirely decayed, and the then Rector and church- 
wardens ordered another one to be made for the remains. Whilst 
this was being made the skull was abstracted. Every possible 
search and enquiry was made for it, but it could not be found, and 
the remains were accordingly re-interred without it. or some 
years previously to 1876, it became known to a few, in whose hands 
the skull was. arly in 1876 this came to Mr. Mackay’s knowledge, 
he being then (as already stated) one of the churchwardens of the 
Parish Church, and he, with the then Rector, the Rev. Horace 
Meyer, called upon this gentleman, representing to him that, as the 
floor of the chancel was then being laid with encaustic tiles, it 
would be an opportunity to re-inter the skull in the grave, or as 
near to it as possible. The gentleman most willingly acceded to 
this request, saying he had long wished to give up the skull. The 
fact of the skull having been recovered gradually became known, 
and a not entirely accurate paragraph about it appeared in the 
Trowbridge and North Wilts Advertiser, for Saturday, July 15th, 
1876, and was copied into other papers. The Daily Telegraph of 
Wednesday, July 19th, 1876, in a leading article prompted by the 
news of the discovery, in which Crabbe—amongst other appreciative 
references—was spoken of as “one of the tersest and most vivid 
word-painters that ever wrote in the English tongue; he was as 
realistic with his pen as Hogarth had been with his pencil;” 
pointed out, with regard to the authenticity of the skull, that an 
unimpeachable pedigree would be required before the fragment 
could be accepted as genuine. This, no doubt, led to the publication 
of a more detailed account of the removal and restoration of the 
skull in the Trowbridge Advertiser for Saturday, July 22nd, 1876, 
from which the following is taken :— 


“Strangers are inclined to question the correctness of the story of the lost 
skull, but as we have had it from the lips of the gentleman who has been the 
means of restoring it, we give it:—Thirty years ago, I was standing by the open 
vault of the Poet Crabbe, with the then Rector of Trowbridge, the late Rev. 
J. D. Hastings. The Church was then undergoing thorough alterations, and 


By Clifford W. Holgate, MA. 9 


the floor of the chancel was up, for the purpose of lowering it. The removal of 
the surface disclosed the vault of the Poet Crabbe, where he was buried fifteen 
years before. It was his wish to be buried in a plain coffin, hence the rapidity 
of decay . . . . The workmen tossed up a skull, and Mr. Hastings said, 
‘That is the skull of Poet Crabbe; this is where he was buried.’ I was a student 
of phrenology then, and said, incidentally, ‘I should like to take a cast of that 
skull.’ Nothing more was said, and wé left. That evening a dirt-begrimed 
labourer presented himself at the side door of my father’s house and enquired 
for me, saying in a sepulchral voice, ‘I’ve got it.’ ‘Got what?’ Isaid. ‘Old 
Pa’son Crabbe’s skull! and we should like a drop o’ beer on the job, please Sir.’ 
‘I don’t want it; I can’t have it; put it back; don’t let my father see you here 
with it; where is it?’ I said. The man replied ‘I put it in my tommy-bag 
when you was gone, as I heard you say you should like to take a cast, and now 
I can’t put it back again, for the floor is all rammed down and cemented, and, 
the stones laid, and if you don’t have it I shall destroy it, that’s all,’ and he was 
proceeding to tie up his ‘tommy-bag,’ and to depart to fulfil his threat. To 
save the skull from such a fate, brought about by the simple remark I had made 
at the graveside, I decided to take care of it, and carried it indoors, but my 
father would not have it there, so I tied it up in a silk pocket-handkerchief, and 
hid it in a dry place for seven years, when I removed it to my iron chest, and 
there it has been ever since. I offered it to the late Rector for re-interment, 
but there was no opportunity for raising the chancel floor. . . . . Ihave 
shown it to his [7.e., the poet’s] son, before he went to Australia, and have since, 
- at his request, forwarded him photographs of it in four different positions.” 


Early in April, 1876, after obtaining possession of the skull, 
Mr. Mackay had a handsome square polished oak box made for it, 
lined with white sarsnet and wadding, into which it was put, and 
on the cover of which was an engraved brass plate bearing the 
following inscription :— 

“This box contains the skull of the Rev. George Crabbe, Poet, and for eighteen 
years Rector of this Parish. It was taken away at the Restoration of the Parish 
Church in 1847 from his grave in the Church, and was restored as nearly as 


practicable to the original spot, by the Rector and Churchwardens, in the year 
of our Lord 1876.” 


Finally, on Tuesday, July 18th, 1876, this box was buried as 
near as possible to Crabbe’s vault, in the chancel of the Church, by 


the churchwardens, thus bringing to a conclusion the strange 
incidents with regard to the poet’s skull. 


The matter came to the knowledge of the poet’s grandson, the 
Rey. George Crabbe, B.A., Rector of Merton, in Norfolk, and 
chaplain to Lord Walsingham, who wrote to Mr. Mackay, thanking 


10 The Skull of the Poet Crabbe. 


him warmly for the part he had played in the matter, and saying :— 


“JT think you have managed a rather disagreeable business most admirably, 
and I need not say how much Mr. Crabbe’s descendants feel indebted to you, as 
indeed must the whole town of Trowbridge, for the delicate and liberal way in 
which you have acted.” 


Notes and Queries is such a wonderful garner of out-of-the-way 
information, that one might have expected to have found some 
account in it of the discovery in 1876. Yet, I believe, the only 
mention of it is contained in small type at the end of the issue for 
November 25th, 1876 (5th Series, vol. vi., p. 440), amongst the 
paragraphs headed “ miscellaneous,”’ as follows :— 


“CraBpBe’s Sxutt. A few weeks ago a Trowbridge paper stated that the 
skull of the Poet Crabbe, which was stolen during the restoration of the Church 
in 1847, has been restored to the rector. CH. Exu., M.A.” 


Rather a belated notice, but still, the note, when found, was made. 


I first heard this story relating to Crabbe from Mr. Mackay, when 
staying with him at Holt Manor in 1887 for an ordination which 
was held in Trowbridge Parish Church on Sunday, March 6th, 1887. 
It impressed me at the time as very interesting and curious, but it 
was not until after I had seen the little volume of notes with regard 
to it, which he had preserved, and had found that there was no 
record at all of it in the Magazine, that I thought of writing this 
paper. 

Mr. Mackay came to Trowbridge in 1861, and from 1873 until 
his death on September 30th, 1895, he served the office of church- 
warden of the Parish Church. The part he took in this little 
incident in 1876 is but an illustration of his frequently-displayed 
thoughtful generosity to the Church, the town, the county, and the 
diocese of his adoption. As such an illustration I wish to lnk it 
with his name in the pages of this Magazine, reviving, as it did, the 
fame and the interest in one of the English poets whose association 
with the County of Wilts must always be prized. 


~=— ee. 


11 


Aotes on Recent Discoveries at Lacock Abbey.’ 


By C. H. Taxzor. 


HE Wiltshire Archeological and Natural History Society 

has, on several occasions, visited Lacock Abbey, so that 

the building, as a whole, must be pretty well known to many of the 

Members; but, during the past year (1894) considerable discoveries 

have been made, and works of the nature of restoration have been 

carried out, under the professional superintendence of Mr. Harold 

Brakspear, so that there is a good deal to be seen that will be new 
to them. 

One of the ill-advised and destructive alterations of the last 
century was the removal of the east walls and windows of the 
sacristy, chapter-house, and day-room, by which those buildings 
were thrown open to the terrace, the doors of communication with 
the adjacent buildings being, at the same time, walled up. In the 
ease of the chapter-house and sacristy, this alteration has now been 
reversed, and it is hoped that the day-room may soon be proceeded 
with in a similar manner. 

The most striking discovery that we have made is that of the 
original west front of the chapter-house, of the thirteenth century. 
We have opened out the arch of entrance and the two unglazed side 
windows.? This Early English front was respected by the builders 
of the Perpendicular cloister, who retained it and carried their own 
work across it, in a very remarkable manner. It must be understood 
that the present vaulted cloister has replaced an earlier cloister,’ 


1 Read before the Society, at Corsham, August Ist, 1895. 

2 It was obvious, from the treatment of the vaulting, as I noticed in my first 
archeological paper, (Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xii., p. 224), that this, the typical 
arrangement, must once have existed, but we hardly expected to find it so well 
preserved. 

5 The four sides of this earlier cloister were probably complete, but the west 
walk of the later cloister, though intended, was never erected. In the west wall 
of the cloister court, at the back of the modern dining-room, I discovered and 


1 


2 Notes on Recent Discoveries at Lacock Abbey. 


which must have had a wooden lean-to roof, supported by corbels 
in the walls, and by stonework, probably in the form of an open 
arcade,! next the court. These early cloisters have, I believe, 
generally disappeared, in the British Islands, but remain occasion- 
ally on the Continent. The lines of the present cloister conflict, as 
might be expected, with the lines of the Early English work. Two 
bays, at the west end of the south walk of the cloister, are transitional 
from Decorated to Perpendicular. The rest is fully-developed 
Perpendicular, and probably of the time of Henry VI. Where 
this work crossed the front of the chapter-house, one of the piers 
supporting the vaulting is carried back, from the vaulting shaft, 
to meet the earlier work, the space between being filled with very 
good panelling. The next pier, not being so conveniently situated, 
is treated as a detached clustered column, of four shafts, and tied 
to the earlier work. The chapter-house is a fine Early English 
vaulted building, of three bays in length by two in width, except 
that, at the west end, the vaulting is divided into three bays, in 
order to admit of the central arch and side windows. The whole is 
supported by two pillars. The easternmost one is a clustered pier, 


partly unblocked, some years ago, a square-headed medizval window, which may 
be of the fourteenth century. Immediately under it are the remains of a string- 
course, which must have been the weathering over the roof of the early cloister, 
and two stones in the wall below probably are the remains of corbels. 

1T formed the opinion that the first cloister would probably have a continuous 
arcade with twin shafts, before I had any evidence on the subject. Having 
occasion later to lower the ground, which had accumulated, and repair the footing 
of the walls of the present cloister, I found some Purbeck marble fragments, 
bases, caps, and an abacus, which had belonged to twin shafts. These were 
mostly at the point which would be the north-west angle of the cloister, if it 
were complete, in the foundation of the present cloister. One double base-stone 
broke, in the attempt to remove it, and part was left in the wall. There is not 
much doubt that these are remains of the thirteenth century cloister. We also 
found a fragment which seems to show that it had a trefoiled arcade of freestone, 
which view is supported by the quite recent discovery, in the wall at the east 
end of the north walk, of a walled-up trefoil-headed recess. There were originally 
two, but one has been converted into a doorway opening into the day-room, 
probably in the fourteenth century. The fragments are now placed in the 
chapter-house. They lay for some time in the day-room, and some of the pieces 
of Purbeck marble have become disintegrated, apparently owing to damp rising 
from the ground and then frost acting on them. 


By C. H. Talbot. 13 


supporting transverse arches, which carried the east wall of the 
dormitory. The base of this pillar remains, in a mutilated state, 
and under it is a portion of the original pavement, which shows 
evidence of settlement. The western pillar is octagonal,! and has 
lost its base, but was similar to one, in a corresponding position, in 
the sacristy, which remains perfect. An examination of the bottom 
of this pillar revealed the fact that two stones have been inserted 
under it, no doubt to counteract a settlement; at which time the 
floor was raised and such of the base mouldings as remained were 
removed. A stone coffin was found, 7 sitw, immediately to the east 
of this pillar, at a higher level than the original floor, which shows 
this underpinning of the pillar and raising of the floor? to have 
been done at a late date, probably in the fifteenth century; at 
which time the base of the other pillar must have been mutilated 
and the floor carried over it. A stone coffin was found, at a low 
level, in the south-east bay, and another, in the cloister, exactly 
opposite the entrance to the chapter-house. All these had been 
disturbed before; but the two in the chapter-house, which were 
examined, contained human bones,? which were not disturbed 
further. There was nothing to show what persons had been buried 
there. All these coffins have been left in position. The responds 
and vaulting shafts, in the chapter-house, did not originally, as at 
present, descend to the floor, but terminated on a stone seat which 


1 When the late Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B., was here he pronounced these 
octagonal pillars of the chapter-house and sacristy to be insertions of the 
fourteenth century, and suggested that the original pillars had probably been of 
Purbeck marble, laid the wrong way of the bed, and had given way. I adopted 
his view, at the time, but have since reverted to the opinion that they are 
original, and are perhaps to be regarded as examples of transition from Early 
English to Decorated. It is noticeable that the detached shafts, in the recently- 
discovered west front of the chapter-house, are not of Purbeck marble, and there 
is no evidence that that material was used in the chapter-house and sacristy at all. 

2 The fifteenth century level of the floor appears to have been maintained in 
the sixteenth century. 

3 The bones in the coffin at the low level were in great disorder. That coffin 
was simply covered down again. The coffin at the high level, in which the bones 
were fairly in order, was filled with concrete, which was necessary for the new 
tile pavement. The coffin in the cloister was not examined. 


14 Notes on Recent Discoveries at Lacock Abbey. 


ran round the building. In the south-west angle the outline of 
the original base of the shaft can easily be traced. The two-light 
side windows, flanking the entrance archway, are of rather peculiar 
design. Their central shafts have caps at a much higher level than 
the jambs, which cannot be considered a satisfactory design, but it 
offends the eye less as it becomes more familiar. Of the many 
mutilations that the work has suffered the earliest are due to the 
nuns themselves, for the sake of their own comfort. Cuts have been 
made in the bases of the window shafts, for the evident purpose of 
slipping in boards,! and there are holes in the shafts and jambs, 
where they were fixed with pins. These were, most likely, intro- 
duced in the fifteenth century, and it is not improbable that they 
may have been taken down in summer. Cuts have also been made 
in the jambs of the central arch, for the purpose of fixing doors, 
and the Karly English cap of the north jamb of the arch has been 
cut into for the purpose of inserting a horizontal board which, on 
the south side, was let into a cut in the Perpendicular work. There 
is painting of the fifteenth century on the arch of the thirteenth 
century and on the adjoining Perpendicular work, and, as this was 
evidently stopped by the board above-mentioned it shows that the 
latter was inserted in the late Perpendicular period. This painting 
also occurs on the side windows. 

After the dissolution of the abbey, Sir William Sharington, the 
purchaser, converted this chapter-house into a dwelling-room, in- 
serting a doorway of Renaissance character under the central arch 
and closing the side windows, the whole being walled up flush 
internally, which accounts for a good deal of mutilation, but the 
earlier and later medieval work still remaining, partly exposed to 
view, externally. Finally, Ivory Talbot, my ancestor, in the last 
century, after other changes,” walled the whole up flush, externally, 


1 T am told that the same thing has been found in the chapter-house of Durham 
Cathedral. 

2 The opening of the doorway had been widened by cutting away some of the 
stonework of the jambs, which weakened the support of the head, but this may, 
perhaps, have been done before Ivory Talbot’s time. Whilst the door still 
continued open he added a pseudo-Gothic face to it on the east side, 


By C. H. Talbot. 15 


mutilating! the Renaissance doorway, which had been previously 
crippled; so that, when we discovered it, it was not practicable to 
retain it, in situ, and therefore I have had it taken down and the stones ? 
placed in the sacristy. Fortunately, I have other almost identical 
doorways* in situ. In the centre of the north side of the chapter- 
house Sir William Sharington inserted a fireplace,* which appears to 
have been a fine one, but it has been so deliberately destroyed that 
its design cannot be recovered. It appears to have had a projecting 
hood, supported by caryatid figures, standing on pedestals. A head 
of a female caryatid figure was found amongst the loose rubbish of 
the floor, and other fragments of Renaissance work were discovered, 
but not enough to recover the design of the fireplace. It is evident 
that, when Sharington inserted this fireplace, he must have removed 
the original stone seat, in that part of the building, and it was 
probably then that the responds of the transverse arches were 
carried down to the floor, but the angle shafts*® were carried down 
by Ivory Talbot in the last century. 

The windows that were removed, at the latter date, from 
the chapter-house and sacristy, were of the sixteenth century 


1 The cornice was ruthlessly chopped away, and, where not so mutilated, was 
as fresh as if newly-worked. 
? Many of these are medieval worked stones re-used. 
3 Three in number, on the north side of the courtyard. 
4A conjecture of mine (Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xii., p. 225), founded on the 
apparent omission of the string-course, that the seat of the abbess was in this 
position, falls to the ground, as the string-course proves to have been removed in 
the sixteenth century. I expected that we should find the remains of a sixteenth 
_ century fireplace, on account of masonry, at the back, projecting into the slype, 
_ and also the base of the chimney remaining above. The fireplace was contracted 
~ before it was destroyed. 
> The base stones of these angle shafts were cut back to the size of the shafts, 
and other stones were added below, to continue the shafts down to the floor, That 
this was done by Ivory Talbot is shown by the fact that a plinth, with which he 
finished the walls at the bottom, is worked on these stones. This seems to show 
that some part of the stone seat remained to his time. On the other hand, the 
responds, continued down by Sharington, were cut, to receive Ivory Talbot’s 
plinth. We could not retain the plinth, as it crossed the remains of the fireplace, 
but we left the angle shafts, thus lengthened down, to tell their own tale. 


16 Notes on Recent Discoveries at Lacock Abbey. 


Renaissance! work, and, in the chapter-house, they were recessed, 
but, though we found fragments that must have belonged to them, 
they were utterly gone, so that there was no question of restoring 
them, and we introduced windows of Early English character. There 
was no evidence by which to recover the design of the original 
windows of the thirteenth century. In the case of the sacristy we 
simply had to unblock the original doorway? and replace the east 
wall* and supply windows. The further restoration of that building 
is, for the present, postponed. 

At the south end of the east walk of the cloister we have unblocked 
a very elegant Karly English doorway, which led into the eastern 
part of the Church, which appears to have been the nuns’ choir, and 
was probably divided by a screen, from the western part of the 
Church. Just to the west of this doorway there is a recess in the 
wall, which probably may mark the position of such screen. 

The door had two valves and was barred on the inside, there 
being a deep socket, in the west jamb of the doorway, for the wooden 
bar to run back. 


1 They appear in Buck’s view, 1732. That was in Ivory Talbot’s time, but 
before his destructive alterations. 

2 There was apparently a vaulting shaft of the cloister in the way, but before 
we commenced operations it was detected as an insertion of Ivory Talbot’s. The 
vaulting is finished with a drop, let into the Early English arch of the doorway, 
and he appears to have sawn off a pendant and added the shaft, which was 
therefore easily removed. The imitation, which was a very good one, was de- 
tected owing to the proportions of the cap not agreeing with those of the true 
vaulting shafts. 

3 There were some indications, in the sacristy, of the points of window arches, 
inserted probably in the fifteenth century. 

4 We had to restore the rear-arch, I expected that we should find a doorway, 
but not an Early English one (Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xii., p. 228, and vol. xvi., 
p. 354), on the evidence of Darley’s drawing, which I, at first, attributed in error 
to Harrison. Darley misled me, however, by showing a four-centred arch, 
instead of the segmental rear-arch. The doorway was walled up by Sharington 
with the debris of the Abbey Church. Most of these fragments are now in the 
chapter-house. Among them are a springer and a capstone, apparently belonging 
to the Church vaulting. The latter is triple in plan. There are arch stones of 
the thirteenth century, retaining painting of the fourteenth century, and a 
number of fourteenth century fragments, some of great delicacy, which may 
have belonged to one or more monuments. 


By C. H. Talbot. 17 


Close to this doorway, and at the east end of the south walk of 
the cloister, we found a large Early English doorway, which formed 
the entrance to the staircase! to the dormitory. It opens into a 
little groined vestibule, from which the stairs started. The greater 
part of the staircase was built up solid in the sixteenth century, but, 
as that filling has since been disturbed,’ some of the steps may be 
seen, and one of the original steps under the doorway remains, worn 
down by the feet of the nuns. It would appear that, originally, there 
was no direct communication from the dormitory staircase to the 
Church. It was necessary to pass through the cloister, but, at a 
later date, probably in the fifteenth century, a passage was made 
through from the vestibule of the staircase to the Church. That 
alteration appears to have been the cause of a settlement, which has 
got worse of late years, and we have therefore built the passage up 
solid, for security. It had no architectural character, and was not 
of exceptional interest. 

We have found a two-light window, which lit the staircase from 
the cloister, originally Early English and shafted internally, but, 
on account of its rising too high for the second cloister, converted 
into Perpendicular externally. 

The great arch of the Early English lavatory, in the north walk 
of the cloister, I discovered, many years ago, being led to examine 
that part of the wall on account of the occurrence there of a corbel 
instead of a vaulting shaft. I then supposed that the builders of 
the Perpendicular cloister had entirely walled up the recessed 
lavatory, and substituted a projecting one. It was, however, 
suggested to me, lately, that such would not be the case, but that 
there would still be a recessed lavatory in the fifteenth century. A 

partial unblocking of the work last year (1894) confirmed that 
_ yview. The lavatory was re-modelled in the fifteenth century, and 


1T anticipated (Wilts Arch. Mazq., vol. xii., p. 224) that the staircase would 
be found in that situation. 

_ 2 Probably in 1828, when access was obtained by a square-headed doorway, of 

_ which a small portion is still visible, from the site of the Abbey Church. The 

_ doorway has a rebate on that side, but there was a door on the other side with 

a bar to it, and the socket for receiving the bar was sheathed with wood. 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVI. Cc 


18 Notes on Recent Discoveries at Lacoch Abbey. 


some very good Perpendicular work has come to light, bearing the 
arms of the Hungerford family, and also, on shields, the sickle 
badge of the same family; so that it is evident that one of the 
Hungerfords was a benefactor. Very probably it may have been 
Walter, Lord Hungerford, who was lord of the hundred of 
Chippenham and of the manors of Sheldon, Lowden, and Rowden. 

It is noticeable that, in the vaulting of the south walk of the 
cloister, occurs the shield of Heytesbury, flanked by sickles, which 
may have reference to the same Walter, Lord Hungerford. Above 
this Perpendicular stonework of the lavatory, the back of the larger 
arched recess is filled with a very interesting fresco painting, repre- 
senting the abbess, in her robes and carrying her crozier, kneeling 
to a saint who is a bishop, probably St. Augustine,' who is holding 
up one hand in benediction. The whole scene is represented as 
passing in a garden. In the smaller recess is another fresco, in a 
very shaky state, which apparently represents a female saint, the 
only part that is well preserved being the head of acrozier. ‘There 
will be much difficulty, I am afraid, in keeping up this second 
fresco when the unblocking is carried further. A number of 
fragments that we found seem to show that the front of the lower 
part of the lavatory was ornamented with narrow Perpendicular 
panelling, but it is not easy to make out the whole design. The 
whole was walled up in the sixteenth century. 

It has been assumed, too hastily, by various writers, that the letter 
K, in the vaulting of the south walk of the cloister, refers to the 
foundress and first abbess, Ela Longespee. It more probably refers to 
the abbess, Elen de Montefort. We found the letters EK and M, the 
initials of that abbess, in the spandrils of a fireplace of the fifteenth 
century, inserted in an Early English wall, under the present hall, 
which fireplace had been walled up. I may here mention that 
another abbess, of the de Montefort family, is to be added to the 


1 The nuns were Augustinian canonesses. There was a figure of St. Augustine ~ 
in glass, in a similar attitude of benediction, in the abbey, in 1684, which 
Dingley has sketched. He notices “some obliterated paintings and inscriptions ”” 
on the walls of the cloister, of which there is not much chance of finding any 
traces now, as they will have been destroyed, by re-plastering, in the last century. 


’ 


By C. H. Taibot. 19 


list which I have already published, viz., Matilda de Montefort, 
who is shown, by documentary evidence, to have been abbess in 
1351. 

Another matter of interest, though not strictly archeological, has 
been brought to my notice quite lately, which it may be well to 
mention now. I had long desired to ascertain who was the designer 
of the hall, built about 1756, which is a very remarkable attempt 
at a Gothic revival. My attention was called to an article! by the 
Rey. George Miller, in the Banbury Guardian for June 20th of 
the present year (1895), in which, speaking of Kineton Church, 
Warwickshire, he says that transepts appear to have been added to 
that Church in 1775, and that they were designed by Mr. Sanderson 
Miller, of Radway, in that county, who also designed the hall at 
Lacock, in Wiltshire, and “made other improvements to that house.”’ 
I have not seen the documentary evidence for the statement, but it 
is supported by the fact that the arms of Miller? of Radway appear, 
in a conspicuous position, in the hall. 


1“ Rambles on the Edge Hills and in the Vale of the Red Horse, chap. viii.” 


2T long ago noticed that the arms (azure four mascles in cross or) were 
identical with those of Miller, of Radway, but, knowing of no possible connection 
between Lacock and that family, I could not suppose that they were intended for 
their arms. They face the arms of Longespee, and the explanation appears to 
be that Ela Longespee founded the abbey and Mr. Miller designed the hall. 
Mr. George Miller, however, makes a mistake in stating that the Rev. William 
Talbot, Vicar of Kineton, was brother to Mr. Talbot, of Lacock. He appears to 
have been eldest son of Sharington Talbot, third surviving son of William Talbot, 
Bishop of Durham (Collins’s Peerage, fourth edition, vol. vi., p. 197), which 
would make him third cousin to Ivory Talbot. 


20 


The Parish Church of S. Michael, Aleve. 


SHE Church as it now stands consists of clerestoried nave 

ys with north and south aisles of five bays, north and south 

porches—each with a room over, clerestoried chancel with north 

and south chapels, and western tower. There is, fortunately, much 
documentary evidence of its history. 

The earliest known record of this Church is in the Register 
of Bishop Osmund, dated 1091, and from it we learn that the 
bishop, having received from William the Conqueror a grant of the 
revenues of the Church at Mere,? applied half of the same to the 
building of the Cathedral of Old Sarum,’ of which he was the 
founder. 

A further entry, dated 1190, refers to the Church as dedicated to 
S. Michael,* and this is confirmed by a reference in the library of 
Salisbury Cathedral, bearing date 1115,’ and by the Dean Wanda’s 
inventory in 1220. 

After Bishop Osmund’s gift of half the revenues this Church 
became a peculiar of the Deans of Salisbury, who held the rectorial 
tithes until they were transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 
and the Dean’s visitation was made annually. William de Wanda 
was the first Dean of Bishop Poore’s new Cathedral at New Sarum, 
and at his first visitation of Mere, made on the vigil of 8. Michael, 


1I desire to preface this paper by acknowledging my indebtedness to Mr. 
T. H. Baker, of Mere Down, for very valuable information which only his 
intimate acquaintance with all that concerns Mere—and particularly his know- 
ledge of the old churchwardens’ book, could supply ; and to Mr. A. R. Malden, of 
Salisbury, for verbatim extracts from original documents in the Dean’s Registry. 

2 Charters confirming this grant were given by Henry I. and Henry II. 
3 See Appendix A. 
4 See Appendix B. 
5 Ref, in library, Salisbury Cath., 358, 201, 


SHOWING BETTESTHORNE CHAPEL. 


Mere CHURCH, SOUTH-EAST. 


pe mn fs 


+] 


Roop ScREEN, AND GALLERY ACROSS NorTH AISLE, GIVING ACCESS TO IT. 


Mere CHURCH. 


The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 21 


1220, he caused to be made an inventory of the belongings of the 
Church at Mere.’ 

The inventory, after describing the Church and three chapels in 
the parish, proceeds to give very valuable information of Mere 
Church. It states that :—? 


“the Church is consecrated, the chancel uncovered ; the cemetery now first closed 
against beasts. There is a tower with four bells.” 


This shows that there was a very complete Church, having three 
altars, a tower, and bells, at this early period, and that the chancel 
was, from some reason, without a roof. The date—1220—would 
exactly correspond with the characteristics of the earliest part of 
the chancel. On the south side, eastward of the chapel, can be seen 
the corbel-table which came under the eaves of the chancel of this 
time, and there can be no doubt that the lower part of the east wall 
of the chancel, including the string under the east window, the 
three buttresses on east and south, and the north wall, are also 
parts of the building which Dean- Wanda found in process of con- 
struction, the roof not yet: being on,-in 1220. But it was the usual 
order in the erection of a new Church to build the chancel first, 
and it is hardly probable that-there would “have been a nave with 
three altars, tower, and bells, without a chancel : moreover, in the 
east wall of the chancel can be seen stones bearing distinct traces 
of fire; these are used indiscriminately, and were not burnt zm sitw. 
The chancel was, therefore, built with the materials of a building 
which had probably been destroyed by fire. 

Until the discoveries made during some works of repair inside 
the Church in 1895 there was no idea of there being earlier work 
than the parts referred to above, and certainly the present tower 
had all the appearance of having been built from the ground in the 
fifteenth century, but on removing the modern plaster at the west 
end of the nave we found that the present archway opening into 


1 By the kind assistance of Mr. A. R. Malden I am enabled to give a literal 
extract from the original document in the Dean’s register at Salisbury, which 
proves that those formerly published are inaccurate in some particulars. (See 
Appendix C.) 

* See Appendix H. 


22 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


the tower had been inserted in an older rubble wall; that this wall 
was carried above the roof of the coeval nave (and therefore pre- 
sumably that of a former tower) ; that the tailing stones of the 
drip-course (the projection being cut off) which came over the nave 
roof of the then existing nave remain; and that the fifteenth 
century tower arch at its apex cut into an earlier opening coeval 
with the wall. It is obvious that the tower was built before this 
archway was inserted—it is inconceivable otherwise that the narrow 
piece of the early wall (the distance between the buttress and arch- 
stone, both of later work, being in one place only 8in.) would have 
been left. 

It will be observed that the rubble wall stops at the apex of the 
weather tabling horizontally, for the full width, and the Perpen- 
dicular work is started with a course of wrought stone about 12in. 
deep, the face of the wall over setting back 5in. and the top of this 
course weathered off. The builders of the present tower and nave 
probably at first intended to retain a smaller arch of the early tower, 
but afterwards resolved to put a new one in better proportion with 
their own work. It was a bold thing to raise so lofty a structure 
on one wall of old work of this kind whilst building the other 
three anew from the ground, and they probably relied on their 
massive angle buttresses for support. 

A further discovery, which is of value as a clue to the period at 
which this early work was built, is that of the charred end of one 
of the wall plates of the nave roof, which has now been carefully 
protected by glass. This indicates a nave of very early proportions 
—it was 15ft. 1lin. wide between the wall plates, 25ft. 3in. to the 
top of the walls (or nearly twice its width in height), and 37ft. 2in. 
to the apex of the roof. Here, then, we have, surely, the remains 
of a Savon Church ! 

The rude arched opening, about 3ft. wide, into which the later 
arch cuts, is built of rubble masonry, and doubtless gave access to 
the space between the ceiling and roof of the nave. 

It is a matter of doubt at what period this early Church was 
burnt: the whole of it could not have been destroyed at the time 
of Dean Wanda’s visitation (otherwise where were the three altars ?) 


"adVHO HLYON GNY TSONVHO N33ML3S HOYY NVOYO GaSIVY “HOUNHD aya “SAVN JO GNA LSA LY HYOM ATHVZ ONIMOHS “HOUNHD 34a 


55 743 GEES 


= 


§ 
i 


By C. EB. Ponting, FSA. 23 


and yet the calcined stones used in the chancel seem to show that 
some part of it must have been burnt anterior to this. The most 
probable solution seems to be that the fire occurred early in the 
thirteenth century ; that the chancel was so much damaged by the 
fire as to necessitate re-building ; that only the roof of the nave was 
destroyed, and that it had been renewed before the date of the 
visitation. These discoveries, in any case, clearly show that in 
1220 the Church was of its full present length, and (as we shall 
presently see) with nave and aisles of nearly equal width to the 
present ones. 

The remains of the thirteenth century work inside the chancel 
are the westernmost piscina, with its shelf, in the south wall, and 
in the north wall the doorway and the curious arched recess formed 
in rubble masonry on the sanctuary floor-level. This is 3ft. 5in. 
wide, 1ft. 10in. high to the springing, 3ft. 9in. to the apex and 
1ft. lin. deep ; the arch is of radiating rubble stones, and of slightly 
pointed form. The recess is too small for a founder’s tomb, and 


from the fact that in 1556 an item in the churchwardens’ book 


alludes to a payment for “ makynge iiijer pynnes for the Sepulchre,” 
it was doubtless the Easter sepulchre. The doorway evidently 
opened into some building, probably a sacristy or a small chapel, 
on the north side of the chancel, as the rebate is on the outside. 
This door was close to the west wall of the adjunct, and the west 
jamb is not (like the east) of wrought stone, but rough masonry, 
and indicates where it was cut away when the wall was removed. 
There is a coeval piscina on the outside, eastward of the doorway, 
which was for use in the sacristy. The use for this doorway ceased, 
and the sacristy or chapel was removed, before the end of the 
thirteenth century, when a two-light Geometrical window was 
inserted over it, the sill of which formed a square head to the 
opening, too low for use as a doorway. ‘The present sill is not the 
original one, for it has no glass groove (which exists in the jamb 
and tracery, showing that the window was glazed and therefore 
opened to the outside clear of any building), and it was fixed on a 


higher level when the doorway again came into use—probably in 
quite recent times. It could not have been used for the present 


24 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Here. 


chapel, otherwise a door would hardly have been made in the screen. 

Soon after the insertion of the window (in 1325) the north chapel 
was founded and dedicated in honour of the Annunciation of the 
Blessed Virgin by Johannes de Mere, steward of the manor under 
King Edward II.! The work of this period can be distinguished, 
as a rule, by the use of a large proportion of the green stone from 
the Wolverton quarry, on the manor held with the chapel, which 
is to some extent intermixed with Chilmark. This work consists 
of the arcade of two bays between the chapel and chancel, and the 
lower part of the jambs of the chancel arch with the rood-loft 
staircase in the south jamb, which was entered from under the 
north arch, and was afterwards superseded; the exit door can be 
seen on the west face. 

The chapel at this time probably only extended eastward as far 
as the window over the door (which, it must be remembered, looked 
into the open at this time), and in width as far as the north wall of 
the then existing nave aisle, some 2ft. 9in. less than the present 
width, whilst it was probably much lower than the existing chapel. 
Both arches of the arcade were at this time on a level, and the 
raising of the western one is a later work; these two arches are of 
two orders of the quarter-round moulding, the outer order dying 
out on to a plain chamfer on the jambs and on to the stilted part 
above the cap of the central pier: this pier is an octagonal one. 
The stop on the east respond is on the chapel side Ift. lin. higher 
than the base of the central pier, and than the stop on the chancel 
side; this seems to indicate a raising of the level for the sacrarium 
floor of the chapel of this date. There is no evidence of a contem- 
porary arch into the north aisle. 

The pieces of oak tracery now made up into a screen for the arch 
opening into the north aisle are of this period, and may well have 
formed part of the rood screen which undoubtedly existed before 
the present one. 

The erection of this chapel seems to have aroused a spirit of 
emulation, for the arcade of two bays on the south side of the 


' See Appendices D. and £. 


By C. E. Ponting, FSA. 25 


chancel and the one between the south chapel and aisle are of 
practically the same date, but in Chilmark stone. The detail of 
the mouldings is the same. The west arch probably spanned the 
entire width of the aisle, as on the north side (there is the same 
peculiarity of the cast side only of the outer jamb of the arch having 
wrought stonework), but the central pier of the arcade has no cap 
to stop the outer order of the arch, the moulding of which is returned 
horizontally in an unusual manner; this pier also has stops to its 
diagonal chamfered faces and a moulded base beneath which has 
been cut away later for the erection of the screens, and—later still 
—for pews. These arches imply the existence of a chapel here 
before the present building, and this is corroborated by the chantry 
dedicated in honour of the Annunciation of the Virgin having been 
founded by Sir John Bettesthorne (who died 1398) in the Chapel 
of S. Mary 

The present south chapel was no doubt built by Bettesthorne 
very little later than 1350, and it may be set down as a very early 
example of the dawn of Perpendicular feeling, which is specially 
marked in the east window tracery, where the attempt can hardly 
be considered successful. This window is a pointed one of four 
lights, and has two of the mullions carried through to the arch, the 
central one branching out to meet the sides of it in a very clumsy 
way. 

There are diagonal buttresses at the south-east and south-west 
angles, the latter showing that the chapel projected beyond the 
south aisle of the nave, against which it was built. In the middle 
of the south side is a stair-turret projecting outside as a semi-octagon, 
giving access to the roof, and eastward of this is a three-light 
pointed window, with typical “flowing” tracery, whilst westward 
of the turret is a five-light window with square head. It will thus 
be seen that there is great diversity in the design of the windows 
of this chapel, but they are all of one period and they have several 
points in common, e.g., the cusps of the tracery are all chisel-pointed ; 
the outside labels are of a pure Decorated type, and are worked out 


1 Kite’s Wilts Brasses, p. 23. 


26 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


of the solid with the voussoirs of the arches in the pointed windows, 
and on the square head in the other (the carvings at the sides and 
apex outside the east window are a peculiar feature) ; and all have 
inside arches with mouldings dying out on to the jambs. The 
label terminals of each of the two south windows are carved to 
represent a male and female (those to the five-light window might 
be intended for Sir John and Lady Bettesthorne, and there is a 
striking resemblance in the features to those on his brass). In the 
tracery of this window the original glass remains almost intact. 
There are figures of 8. Nicholas, 8. Martin, 8. Christopher, and an 
Archbishop, probably 8. Thomas of Canterbury. This glass is 
of the rich brown colouring so noticeable in the almost con- 
temporary window in the Lady Chapel at Edington; the free oak- 
leaf foliage in the two middle pieces is unusual. The old glass 
with coats of arms which Aubrey notes in the east and south 
windows is not mentioned by Hoare, and had probably disappeared 
before his time, although a beautiful piece of glass, the lead-work 
of which is a work of art in itself, representing the arms of 
Bettesthorne quartering Berkeley, impaling Fitzhugh, said to have 
been removed from the chapel (with another coat now lost) in 1865, 
was found by Mr. Troyte Chafyn-Grove in Zeals House and put in 
the south window of the sanctuary in 1893. 

All the wrought stone-work of the chapel is Chilmark. 

There are some remains of fourteenth century paving tiles 
preserved near the steps, which are doubtless those mentioned by 
Sir R. C. Hoare.! 

Behind the door in the staircase a large arched aumbry is formed 
in the wall with rebate for shutter, and there is in the south wall 
of the sanctuary a large piscina with moulded shelf, moulded jambs, 
and arch with early-looking stop, the label cut away. The original 
oak door exists at the foot of the turret stairs, and it has good 
scroll hinges, probably those mentioned in the footnote to Jackson’s 
Aubrey. 

In the floor of the chapel, in front of the altar, is the fine brass 
of the founder, John Bettesthorne, lord of Chadenwyche, who died 


) Hundred of Mere, p. 12. 


By ©. E. Ponting, FS.A. 27 


in 1398; the inscription is remarkable as giving the Dominical 
letter for the year (E).1 The manor of Chadenwyche (now pro- 
nounced Charnage), together with much other property in Wilts 
and elsewhere, went to his only daughter Elizabeth, wife of Sir 
John Berkeley, Kt., and the chantry was then known as “ Berkeley’s 
Chantry.” ? 

In the floor of the sanctuary of the chapel are the remains of 
another brass, supposed to be that of Sir John Berkeley, who died 
1426-7. This is described by Aubrey‘ as that “ of a Chevalier 
with a Greyhound at his feet ; his wife’s effigies is lost, as also the 
escutcheons and inscription:” the brass was then more complete, 
but it appears to have become reduced to its present condition by 
Hoare’s time. 

Under the eastern arch is a Purbeck marble altar-tomb with the 
sides enriched by elaborate tracery with shields. There was a brass 
on one of the shields (that on the west side) but this, together with 
the inscription, was lost before Aubrey’s visit. The tomb is coeval 
with the screens, and it may well have marked the burying-place 
of the first Lord Stourton (referred to later), who died in 1463, and 
who doubtless assisted in the great work of re-modelling the Church 
which was then drawing to a close. 

This seems to be a suitable place at which to mention the con- 
siderable slope of the floor of the chapel from north to south, in the 
direction of the natural fall of the site: this has been jealously 
preserved in the recent works of restoration, as a striking instance 
of the practice which I believe was very general in medieval times. 
The floor of the entire Church seems to have followed the same 
lines, for it has been levelled up at the south porch to the extent of 
15in., as indicated by the benches in the porch and the stops of the 
door jambs; and the bases of the south arcade of the nave are 5;in. 
lower than those on the north. 


1 Kite’s Wilts Brasses, p. 23. 
2 See Appendix F. 
3 Kite, p. 31. 
4 Jackson’s Aubrey, p. 387. 


28 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


This chapel has been very unfortunate in the matter of its roof, 
for the present is at least the fourth which has been put on. There 
was certainly one of Bettesthorne’s work (not to go back farther), 
which was of the pitch of the existing roof; then, towards the end 
of the sixteenth century a roof of lower pitch was substituted, the 
gable being reduced to the level of the side parapet, which was 
continued round. Aubrey refers to this roof as having some “ good 
carved worke,” and it existed in Hoare’s time, as the engraving of 
the exterior of the Church shows,! and the two stone corbels (of the 
basest type of grotesque) and oak wall pieces which formed part of it 
still remain. The third roof was a very mean and weak one, of flat 
pitch and slated, put on some sixty yearsago. The present roof 
was put on in 1892, from money left for the purpose by Miss Julia 
E. Chafyn-Grove, who had previously (in 1883) restored the altar 
to the chapel and opened it for daily service.” 

Very soon after the erection of this chapel an enlargement of 
the body of the Church seems to have been necessary, and the pro- 
jection of the south chapel naturally suggested the widening of the 
south aisle to the extent of 5ft. 7in., to bring it in line with the 
chapel. ‘The south porch, with its priests’ chamber over, and 
staircase for access to the same and on to the roof, was erected at 
the same time—not later than 1370. It will be seen that the 
plinth of the chapel is continued in the aisle, although the windows 
and parapets differ. 

In the aisle are four (three in the south wall and one in the west) 
three-light pointed windows with tracery of reticulated type and 
chisel-pointed cusps, the outside labels here and in the outer south 
doorway, as in the chapel, being worked on the arch-stones. 

The mullions and tracery are plainly splayed—not moulded—as 


1 Hundred of Mere, p. 10. 


2“The lands belonging to this chantry were obtained at the Dissolution by 
the Protector Somerset for his Secretary, Sir John Thynne, by whom they were 
sold to Thomas Chafyn, of Zeals, and by his representatives, the Groves, of Zeals, 
the chapel is now used for burial.” (Foot-note to Jackson’s Aubrey, p. 387.) 
Hoare (Hund. of Mere, p. 12,) gives the date of sale as 11th November, 1563. 


a ae 


a 
—_ 


By ©. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 29 


also are the inner arches, the splay dying on to the jambs; the 
outer jambs and arch have the quarter-round mould in addition. 

The inner doorway of the porch has two orders of mouldings on 
arch and jambs, without label, and typical stops—which are, 
however, almost hidden by the raising of the floor. The outer 
doorway has somewhat similar mouldings and stops, but the greater 
part of the porch has been re-built (as mentioned later), the window 
to the priests’ chamber over disappearing in the process, leaving 
only the quatrefoil opening (which has never been glazed), which 
gave a view into the aisle. Parts of the arch of a two-light window 
now form the head of the upper doorway. 

The work to this aisle is of Doulting stone. 

The present roof was put on at the restoration of 1856. The old 
oak benches on stone bases are preserved. 

The next step in the development of the building was taken 
on the north side. In 1393 Richard II. made a grant of land for 
the further endowment of the north chapel, shortly before which 
time (circa 1380) the north and east walls were re-built, making it 
practically equal in width to the south chapel, and of the full length 
of the chancel—it thus projected beyond the north aisle as the 
Bettesthorne Chapel formerly did on the south, and had similar 
diagonal buttresses at the outer (north-west and north-east) angles : 
it was, however, carried above the contemporary chancel, and had 
a span roof, in lieu of the (probable) lean-to form of the previous 


small chapel. Here, as in the south chapel, the transition to the 


Perpendicular is much more marked in the east window than in the 
side ones. This window is a five-light pointed one, and if judged 
by its tracery might be taken to be later, but the mouldings—the 
wave-mould, splay, and cavetto on the outside arch and jambs and 


the two latter inside and on the mullions and tracery—show it to be 


of the period now under review. It has the same outside label re- 
turning square into the wall, as on the side windows, and inside arch 
with wave mould dying on to the jambs. The chapel is divided into 


_ three bays in length, the divisions being marked by buttresses on 


the outside; and a splayed plinth is carried round the diagonal 


buttress and along the east side (it is also continued later along the 


30 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


north aisle). It is worthy of note that whilst the north wall of the 
chapel is of squared ashlar, the east wall is faced with rubble, as 
though to harmonise with the Early English rubble of the east 
wall of the chancel, against which it was built. Each bay has a 
four-light square-headed window with cavetto moulding on all 
members and a segmental inner arch which is moulded like that of 
the east window ; the tracery is of reticulated design, with cinquefoil 
cusping—the cusps having a slight tendency to the square form of 
the later period. Three eyes of the tracery of one window contain 
old glass, viz., in a quatrefoil five roses and an eight-pointed star, 
in a trefoil three estoils and a floriated centre with a border of 
guilloche pattern, and in another trefoil three leopard’s heads and 
a centre composed of a quatrefoil with five roses. 

The arch between the chapel and north aisle was inserted at this 
time, and spanned the whole width of the aisle, the outer face of 
the wall of which can be seen on the inside 8in. from the north-east 
angle of the present aisle. The north jamb has the moulding 
carried down and stopped on the. east face, but not on the west, 
where there is no jamb of worked stone. This is conclusive as to 
the insertion of this arch before the widening of the north aisle. 
The drip-course built over the then lean-to roof of the aisle when 
the west wall of the chapel was erected is also clearly distinguishable. 

The contemporary roof remains, and is a waggon-head vault 
divided into twenty panels by oak ribs plastered between: it retains 
some of the original carved bosses at the intersections, but the 
wall-plate has been re-modelled and some Jacobean scroll brackets 
added at the springing of the ribs, also a good shield bearing 
the date 1604 with a >, and opposite to it a poor copy with 
the date 1791, in which year the chapel was ceiled and white- 
washed, Robert Still paying one fourth of the expense. A hatch- 
ment of the Still family impaling Skrine, of Warleigh, Co. Somerset, 
is preserved in this chapel. 

The only piscina in the chapel is that previously noted near the 
doorway into the chancel, which I assume to have been in use in 
the sacristy. 

Sir William Stourton, who (like Johannes de Mere) was (in 


aes, 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 31 


1402) Steward of the Principality of Wales, and therefore of the 


manor of Mere, and who died in 1403, directed that his body 
should be buried in the chantry chapel of the Virgin Mary in the 
Church of Mere, but this was not carried out as he was buried in 
the priory of Witham, Co. Somerset.!| John, his son, who was made 
first Lord Stourton in 1448, and who died 1463, was probably 
buried under the altar-tomb above referred to. This John was 
probably the most distinguished of the Stourton family, and served 
his monarchs Henry V. and VI. in their foreign wars with great 
ability, for which services he was created a baron. Leland says he 
built the ancient castle at Stourton “ ex spoliis Gallorum,” and it was 
no doubt from the same source that he greatly contributed to the 
general reconstruction of the Church of Mere, ecirea 1450-60. He 
married Margery, daughter of Sir John Wadham, of Merefield, Co. 
Somerset, Kt., whose arms appear on one of the shields on the 
bridge across the north aisle. 

The second Lord (William) died 1479 and was, like his son John, 
the third Lord, buried in this Church.? The second Lord married 
a “daughter of Sir John Chidiok, of Chidiok, Co. Dorset,” and “ by 
this the family of Stourton acquired the manor of Stourton Caundle, 
Co. Dorset, which was afterwards sold to Henry Hoare, of Stourton, 
Esq., in whose family it now remains.” * 

The third lord married a granddaughter of Sir John Berkeley, 
who married the daughter of Sir John Bettesthorne, builder of the 
south chapel, and died in 1484. 

The widening and raising of this chapel appears to have had a 
similar effect on the parishioners to the similar work in the south 
chapel, for the north aisle was immediately afterwards re-built— 
indeed it is doubtful whether the chapel was roofed in before the 
aisle was begun—the width of the chapel being in each case the 
limit for the width of the aisle, whilst on the north the roof of the 
aisle was a continuation of that of the chapel. As stated on p. 25, 


' Hoare’s Hundred of Mere, p. 44. 
> Ibid, p. 48. 
% Ibid, p. 44. 


32 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


the inside wall of the previous aisle was in a line with the face of 
the north jamb of the arch communicating with the chapel, and 
the rough facing between this and the present wall indicates the 
point from which the wall was removed, whilst the drip-course over 
the arch marks the line of its roof. 

The work of the aisle very closely resembles that of the north 
chapel, and the same plinth-course is continued through both, but 
there is sufficient difference to indicate some progress in the change 
of taste which was so rapid at this period: thus, although the two 
north windows of the aisle correspond with those of the chapel in 
form, in number of lights, and in the reticulation of the tracery, it 
will be seen that the arches to the lights are of ogee form, instead 
of two-centred, and have trefoil cusping; the inner arch has a 
cavetto instead of the wave-mould, and the labels of all three 
windows in this aisle have circular terminals instead of the square 
returns into the wall. The west window of the aisle is peculiar— 
it is of three lights with square heads on the outside, but the pierced 
part assumes a pointed form, so that on the inside it has the ap- 
pearance of a pointed arched window, and the inside arch is also 
pointed, the spandrels between the arch and the square head on the 
outside being filled with blind tracery: the label is worked on the 
solid with the head and jambs, as in the south aisle. The roof of 
the aisle was, doubtless, like that of the chapel (although with a 
somewhat later-looking cornice), but, as in the nave, the ribs have 
been cut away and the whole plastered. 

The north porch, with its staircase and room over, was apparently 
built with the north aisle. It is much richer than the one on the 
south and was always—as now—the principal entrance to the 
Church. It has diagonal buttresses carried up and terminating in 
erocketted pinnacles above the parapet. The outer doorway is a 
good one, with two orders of wave mould with a hollow between, 
and a bold label over, having terminals carved to represent animals. 
Over it is a niche having flanking pinnacles and groined canopy, 
which is occupied by a figure representing 8. Michael slaying the 
dragon. Sir R. C. Hoare assumes this figure to be older than the 
surrounding work, but this is probably due to its weather-worn 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 33 


appearance from the softness of the stone; there seems to be no 
reason to think that it was not made for the niche in which it stands, 
The canopy of the niche cuts the cornice and parapet of the porch, 
which latter is carried up with a curve on each side of the centre 
and terminates in a modern cross. There appears to have been an 
alteration in this part which has caused some confusion—the parapet 
is continued round the stair-turret, but there is none to the north 
aisle. The outside work of the porch is of green Wolverton stone ; 
inside, the doorway and vaulting are constructed with Chilmark and 
Doulting stone mixed.. The mner doorway has two orders of 
mouldings with a four-centred arch (the earliest instance of this 
form in the Church), and over it is a niche with square head, 


_ occupied by a figure which has a history so remarkable that it is 


worth relating :—In the piece of ground to the east of the church- 
_ yard, now forming a playground for the National Schools, the site 
of the old Church-house, and in later years a farm-yard, was a 
pond, afterwards filled up with earth. In digging a trench for the 
foundations of the coal-shed at the south-west corner of the ground 
_ this headless figure was brought to light and restored by the Vicar 
to its present position, which it exactly fits. The figure had 
probably been thrown into the pond either when the images in the 
Church were destroyed in 1563, or when the town was visited by 
Cromwell’s troopers in 1645, when the renowned glass of the Church, 
remarked upon by Aubrey; was broken up and the Vicar—Dr. 
Chafyn—so brutally ill-used as to cause his death shortly after. 
The figure appears to hold a model of a Church in the left hand, 
which would indicate a founder. 
__ The porch has a lierne vaulted ceiling, with good foliated carving 
in the bosses ; there are two stone benches with plinths and seats. 
The room over has a window on the west and a smaller one on the 
east ; the original oak door remains at the foot of the stairs, as also 
that of the inner doorway of the porch, with its traceried head and 
plain strap hinges. There is no peep into the Church, as on the 
‘south side. This room is referred to in the churchwarden’s accounts 
as the “ Treasurye Lofte over the Northe Porche ” in the year 1636, 
when the following inventory of its contents is given :— 
“YOL. XXIX,—NO. LXXXVI. D 


34 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


“Three Great Pypes of the Organes. 

“One Barrell of Gunpowder weyinge ij° weighte. 

“More of Gunpowder of severall pounds made up in paper xiiij!’. 

* More in that lofte Twoo olde Greate Chests. 

“More of Soader in one of those Coffers w was the Remeynder of the 
Soader bought this yere ix!‘ and xix yards of matche.”’ 


This room is now fitted up as a museum, and an inventory of its 
contents is given at the end of this paper!: it is to the present 
time used for vestry meetings. 

We now come to the period of the great work of the re-modelling 
of the centre of the Church, which had become almost inevitable from 
the raising and widening of the north and south aisles and chapels. 
Although the nave was of good height—for the early structure, of 
which traces are preserved at the west end, doubtless remained, but - 
re-roofed after the fire—we may assume that it was very much cut 
off from the aisles by low Norman arches (for there would hardly 
have been Saxon aisles) which would seem to the men of the 
fifteenth century (who were very much given to re-modelling 
everything to suit more modern ideas) quite out of harmony with 
the lofty proportions of the aisles, whilst the low thirteenth century 
chancel must have been quite buried between the two chapels. The 
three-light square-headed window on the south side of the sacrarium 
may be assigned to the end of the fourteenth century, and its low 
position, beneath the Early English eaves corbels, seems to show 
that it was inserted before the chancel was raised, although its 
inner arch and jambs are similarly treated to those of the later 
windows; this may have been an alteration in the re-modelling. 

Gilbert Kymer was Dean of Salisbury—and by virtue of this 
office, Rector of Mere—from 1449 to 1463, and we find his arms? 
on two of the bench-ends in the chancel, which are (with the two 
fronts of the north and south book desks) contemporary with the 
screens, and the character of the whole work so exactly fits in with 


ee ee ee ee ee ee eee 


1 See Appendix G. 
2 Hoare (Hund. of Mere, p.11): “ Kymer, or Keymer, of West Chalborough, 
Co. Dorset. Argent, three wolves in pale azwre, within a bordure sable 
bezanteé.” 


By ©. EF. Ponting, FSA. 35 


it that we need have no hesitation in concluding that this great 
work was commenced during his tenure of the rectory and finished 
(with perhaps the exception of the tower) before 1470. It was 
commenced at the east end by the raising of the chancel and the 
insertion of the present east window. This east window is a pointed 
one of five lights, in Chilmark stone, it has three small orders of 
chamfers on the outside of the jambs and arch, and one inside and 
out on the mullions and tracery ; the latter is of Transitional type, 
and in general form might be taken to be earlier than that in the 
north chapel, but a careful study of its details shows that it is 
slightly later. The added part of the east wall is of rabble masonry 
like the thirteenth century work below, and the east end of the 
chapel, into which it is bonded. The chancel has three clerestory 
windows of two lights on the south with cinquefoil cusping. An 
interesting relic of the period between the raising of the north 
chapel and that of the chancel is preserved in the stone shoot which 
came at the end of the gutter between the roofs as they then 
existed. A second piscina was formed in the south wall farther 
east, the older one being probably found to be inconveniently far 
westward. 

The Dean having performed his part, the Vicar, the landowners, 
and parishioners were not slow to follow, and it must be admitted 
that they carried out their share in a magnificent manner. The 
re-modelling consisted in the raising of the chancel arch and of the 
western arch of the arcade in the south wall of the north chapel— 
the latter evidently for the purpose of an organ-loft—the blocking 
up of the rood stairs (of which more later), the entire re-building 
of the north and south arcades with clerestory, the nave roof with 
turret for sanctus bell on the east gable, the re-building of the 
tower with the exception of the lower part of its east wall, and (a 
little later) the insertion of the arch in the latter. At the same 
time a new rood-screen was erected. I will now proceed to describe 
_ these works in the above order. 

The whole of the stone used for the internal features in this work 
(with the exception of a small quantity of Chilmark) is an oolite 
_ from Doulting, Somerset, and the point from which the chancel 

; D2 


36 The Parish Church of 8. Michael, Mere. 


and organ-loft arches were raised can be exactly identified. The 
chancel arch is of the west-country panelled type, without label, 
the added part of the jambs and the arch being entirely new work 
of Doulting stone; in the case of the organ-loft the old green stone 
arch was re-used, but with new springers and the jambs heightened, 
the old springers being cut off and left in situ. The raising of 
these arches and the consequent weakening of the pier from which 
they spring was doubtless the reason for filling up the space in it 
occupied by the rood-loft stairs. 

The arcades between the nave and aisles are of five bays, the 
spaces being divided as between the wall-face of the tower and the 
eastern respond—the westernmost bays are therefore narrower by 
the projection of the east buttresses of the tower against which they 
abut. The columns are tall and slender, and consist in section of 
semi-circular attached shafts on the cardinal faces with hollows 
between—the four shafts having deep moulded bases and moulded 
caps stopping the outer order of the arch-mould, which is an ogee 
instead of a plain roll like the shaft; the hollows are continued 
round the arch. The arches are pointed; over each arch on the 
south side is a three-light pointed clerestory window,! and the same 
is repeated on the north side, but is visible on the inside only, and 
built solid (not subsequently blocked up, as Hoare thought) on the 
outside: this was doubtless owing to the high-pitched roof which 
had been put on the north aisle as compared with the lean-to or 
flat-spanned roof on the south. The absence of labels to both arches 
and windows is noticeable, and this flat treatment was no doubt 
intended to receive colour decoration, which there is evidence 
to show covered the interior of the building. The joints of the 
columns are bedded on oyster-shells, except in the re-built parts, 
where sheet-lead is used. 

The nave roof still remains, it is of the collared and braced 
rafter type, with longitudinal moulded ribs intersecting with the 
main circular ribs. The cornice is a richly-moulded one with carved 


1The tracery to the south windows had disappeared and was renewed, copied 
from the blind windows on the north, in 1856. 


By C. E. Ponting, FSA. 37 


pateree and angels with outstretched wings holding shields bearing 
emblems of the Passion and other devices,! twenty-two in all, one 
under each main rib. The greater part of the roof was doubtless 
open to the oak strips, widely spaced, with lead covering, but the 
easternmost bay was boarded under the rafters and collars and 
subdivided by ribs into panels painted alternately red and green. 
This had been removed and the mouldings of the circular and 
horizontal ribs cut away and the roof ceiled underneath (probably 
in 1592, when tiles were substituted for lead), but sufficient traces 
remained to enable a restoration of it to be made in 1895, when the 
roof was opened out. The whole of the cornice and the angels bear 
traces of having been richly coloured and gilded. 

The sanctus bell-cot remains intact—a simple erection of two 
jambs with a square-headed opening for the bell, and a crocketted 
and pierced finial over. The bell was rung from the north chapel, 
under the organ-loft, and there still exists a squint of quite unique 
interest in one of the mullions of the oak screen under the organ, 
through which the “‘ bedesman”’ in charge of the bell (who was also 
the organ-blower) viewed the priest at the altar, and the only 
position at which the priest could be seen through this opening is 
the centre of the west side of the altar. The opening is rudely 


_ chiselled through the mullion and measures Yin. high, by 2in. wide 


on the chancel side, widening to llin. high by 21in. wide on the 


chapel side. The grooves worn by successive ropes are visible on 


the stonework of the east face of the wall over the chancel arch, 
and the extent of the wear and tear of the rope may be judged 


_ from the entries in the churchwardens’ accounts, which record the 


purchase of a “new rope for the little belle’ on an average yearly.” 


1 Commencing from the east, on the north side :—(1) The Sponge, (2) Crown 


of Thorns, (3) Pincers, (4) Scourge, (5) Ladder, (6) a Scroll, (7) a Garment, 


(8) Staff and Book, (9, 10, and 11) a plain shield. On the south side, beginning 


from the east :—(1) The Mallet, (2) Spear, (3) Hammer, (4) Nails, (5 and 6) a 
plain shield, (7) The Cross, (8) plain shield, (9) open Book, (10) rent Garment, 
(11) plain shield. 


? The sanctus bell now in position has a curious history. It appears to be the 
original metal, but re-cast, and re-hung on the original bar. It may have been 


used at one time as a service call bell for the Vicar, the vicarage before 1865 


38 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


The tower is a magnificent one in proportion and dimensions, 
and a fine piece of masonry, but it is plainly treated with the 
exception of the parapet. It strikingly resembles, in type, that of 
S. Peter’s, Marlborough, but it is bolder in detail and conceived on 
a larger scale. It is 94}{t. in height from the ground to the top 
of the parapet (the pinnacles rise about 294ft. above this), and about 
23ft. square on plan exclusive of the buttresses. It is of three 
stages in height, divided by string-courses. At each angle is an 
octagonal buttress (that on the north-west contains the staircase for 
the full height) about 7}{t. in diameter at the lower stage, carried 
up for the full height and terminating in a spirelet springing from 
a simple moulded and embattled cornice. There is a chamfered 
plinth, and above this a base mould. The cornice beneath the 
parapet is a repetition of the string-courses. The parapet is an 
embattled one enriched by two stages of sunk tracery in quatrefoils 
with shields, this work being very similar to that on the tomb 
between the chancel and south chapel. There is a three-light 
window in each face of the upper stage. The middle stage is 
divided into two on the west face with a two-light window in each 
part. In the lower stage there is a low four-centred doorway 
without label in the west face, and above it a four-light window of 
transitional type with a vesica in a curious position in the tracery. 
The label has square terminals. @ver the window is carved an 
angel holding a shield with the device I.H.S. 

There is distinct evidence of the tower having been built after 
the west wall of the north aisle, and the latter made out to insert 
the buttress. The outside stonework of the tower is Chilmark, as 
are the buttresses where they occur inside the Church. The archway 
into the nave is a fine specimen of the panelled type like the chancel 
arch, 11ft. 2in. wide; the jambs are 3ft. 10in. thick, and the 
sinkings are bold and deep. 
being the house now known as ‘‘the old vicarage,” or “ Layfield House,” due 
west of the tower across the road. In some manner it found its way, about the 
beginning of the century, to the house known as “ Dean’s Orchard,” to the south 
of the churchyard, and was there used for domestic purposes by successive tenants 


till it was discovered in 1895 in the corner of a dark coal cellar and re-hung in 


the bell-cot. 


By C.,E. Ponting, F.S.A. 39 


The ceiling over the lower stage of the tower is a richly-panelled 
and traceried one, and is illustrated by Sir R. C. Hoare,! but it has 
been much renewed, as an entry in the accounts of the restoration 
in 1855 shows,’ and the four angle panels are now plain. .The 
ceiling springs from stone corbels in the angles. 

The bowl of the font is coeval with the re-modelling ; it is of 
Purbeck marble, octagonal in shape, each side having a traceried 
panel—a quatrefoil with multifoil cusping, with a plain shield in 
the centre: this work strongly resembles that of the tomb of the 
first Lord Stourton, and the parapet of the tower. The stem and 
base were renewed in 1855, but it had again become so disintegrated 
that it had to be further renewed in 1895, when some departure from 
the design of the old shaft—the cusping having been omitted—was 
inadvertently made. The font was formerly where it now stands, 
but it was subsequently removed to near the north door, and replaced 
in the tower last year. 

The rood-screen is a magnificent one; it is of the full width of 
the nave (23ft. 6in.), and 15ft. high from the nave floor to the floor 
of the loft; it is divided into five main bays by moulded mullions 
treated as shafts, from which, and from the wall shafts, spring—on 
both the east and west sides—the rich fan-vaulted cove to the loft: 
_ the panels of the groining are elaborately traceried. Each main 
bay is subdivided into six lesser bays by moulded smaller mullions 
which are carried through the lower panelled stage and the two 
open stages above to the arch-ribs of the vaulting. A heavy 
_ transom, with carved pater in a sunk member, divides the open 
_ stages, and beneath this, in the central bay, come the folding doors 


 Hoare’s Hund. of Mere, p. 10. 

? The following builder’s estimate was accepted for work to this ceiling at the 
restoration in 1855 :—“ Restoring and repairing, cleaning and stopping framing 
to tower ceiling. Taking out the whole of the panels, cleaning, repairing, and 
stopping suffnt. for 4 setts with plain deal stained panel in angles of ceiling, new 
cross mouldings but without earvings to same, the centre piece to have new 

panels, and the whole cased with inch deal, cleaned, repaired, and stopped, the 
bosses and angel carvings of principle framing to be made good, the bosses on 
next smaller size to be made good, but not angel carving, the whole to be properly 
cleaned and to have 2 coats oiled with boiled oil properly rubbed in. £33 15s.” 


40 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


oe 


with four-centred head, the spandrels having undercut carving of 
exquisite design. The rail at the top of the lower panelled stage 
is sunk and carved like the transom, and the panels beneath it are 
traceried, each being treated as a flat ogee-crocketted canopy; this 
occurs on the nave side only, the east side being plain for the 
returned stalls. The lower open stage has tracery under the 
transom, and the heads of the five main bays are filled with tracery 
of a fully-developed “ Perpendicular” type. The cornices on both 
sides remain intact, and are richly moulded and carved—that on 
the nave side has two orders of inserted carving, besides a small 
member carved on the solid, and that on the east has two orders of 
carved pateree in addition to a lower “fringe.” The parapet was 
taken down in 1562, when an oak cover-mould was put on the 
cornice, but on removing this I found the mortice holes indicating 
a central panel 1ft. 7in. wide (this only being grooved into the sill 
piece of the parapet), with nine panels on each side, in groups of 
three; the mullions forming the main divisions were supported on 
corbels morticed in horizontally. The holes from which the beam 
‘forming the top of the parapet was taken were evidently /eft for 
the purpose in building the clerestory walls, and filled up round {the 
beam afterwards: they indicate the height of the parapet as 3ft. 9in. 
from the loft floor. The east parapet was divided by mullions into 
eleven equal panels of 124in., and does not appear to have touched 
the arch at each end. The width of the loft is 6ft. 7in. 

The means of access to the rood-loft (after it had been raised to 
its present height and the staircase which led to the earlier and 
lower loft blocked up) was by a wooden ladder in the north-west 
angle of the north chapel, through a doorway in the wall forming 
the east end of the aisle (this was obviously cut through after the 
insertion of the present arch), across a bridge to the east respond 
of the north arcade of the nave, and through the respond to the 
loft. Both openings in the walls are 2ft. wide, large enough to 
admit an adult (which is not often the case), and in the 2ft. din. in 
thickness of the respond, through which the upper doorway is cut 
four steps are arranged in an ingenious way, giving 1lin. tread to 
each. Both openings appear to have had doors. I have met with 


“ 


By ©. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 4] 


two other instances of access to the rood-loft by means of a bridge 
across the aisle, where the loft itself did not extend through nave 
and aisles, viz., Bishops Cannings and Battle (Sussex). 

The entries in the churchwardens’ book which appear to refer to 
the altars, tabernacles, and the rood-loft and its bridge, are as 
follows :— 


“1558. Item for makynge of a dore to the Rode lofte.” 
“Ttem for Jemewes and nayles to the same.” 
“to W™. Stafford for whytnyng of the walles of the northe Ile of 
the Church ii*. i1ij4.” 
1559. Payde in Earneste towards the makynge of the Image of Seynt 
Michell.” 
“1561. Item for takyng downe of the Aultares by comanndement of the 
Quenes vysytors aforesaid.” 
“Ttem for takynge downe of the Rode in the Churche.” 
“Ttem for wasshyng out of the Rode and the trynyte.” 
“Ttem for lyme for the same.” 
“Ttem for defacynge the Images of the twelve apostles which were 
painted in the fface of the Rode lofte.” 
“1562. Payed for the takyng downe of the Rode loft by the comanndment 
of the Bysshop x‘.”’ 
“For lyme to amende the same place ageyn xvj?.” 
“For lathes to amende the Rode lofte xiij?.” 
“Ttem to Henry Hopkyns for the defacyng of the seats or tabernacles 
of the Images throught all the Churche? iiij*. x*.” 
“Ttem for lyme for the same iij®. vj4.” 
“Ttem for the carriage of the Rubble oute of the Churche iij*.” 
“For a table peynted with the tenne comanndm™. and for a Kalendar 
and a boke of the homelyes ij’. iiij?.” 
“1625. for Setting upp the Kinges Armes and for plaine centences of 
Scripture on the walls iij''. v*.” 
“1625. A new Pulpitt sett up and some new seates. The King’s Arms were 
sett upp and many poses written on the walls.” 


1 Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xxiii., p. 5. 

In St. Martin’s, Langharne, Carmarthenshire, a cruciform Church, with central 
tower, the rood-loft was approached by a bridge across the south transept. Also 
at Ditcheat, Somerset, the loft was approached by a passage in the wall above 
the north aisle arch between aisle and transept from a staircase with entrance in 
the north aisle—J. A. Luoyp. 

2 Tt is not clear where these tabernacles were, as traces of such work only exist 
over one piscina in the chancel, but that there was more is shown by the entry 


_ for carriage of rubble out of the Church. A whole niche has been removed and 
_ the wall made good 3ft. eastward of piscina in north chapel. 


42 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


“1684. Itm. paid Mr. White for new draweinge and settinge up the Kings 
armes 07" 00%. 002.” 
(This is the existing achievement and bears the inscription “ Fear 
God Honour the King. 1684—Thomas Rabbitts—John fford 
Churchwardens” ; the former one having doubtless been destroyed 
during the Commonwealth.) 
“1625. To the Joyner for a pyne for the pulpitt to hang the preachers hatt 


on jj.” 

The image of §. Michael might have occupied the central panel. 
That this was treated in some manner distinct from the rest is 
shown by the groove in the sill of the parapet, to lend it special 
support. The twelve apostles were doubtless painted in twelve of 
the side panels, whilst the other six were occupied by other figures, 
probably angels in adoration. Traces of the colouring of the 
parapet remain on the sill piece recently opened out. The works 
of spoliation done 1559—1562 were very sweeping. 

Aubrey (1680) says :—? 


“In the north aisle is a kind of Balcony, as it were for an organ, on which 
these coates are painted, viz. :— 


A Merchant’s Mark. Berkeley. 
(Clyvedon.) Stourton. 
Carant. (Wadham.) 
Hungerford, with a mullet for diff- Bettesthorne. 
erence. Baynton. 

Do. without the difference. Carant as before, with a crescent for 
Prince of Wales. difference. 
The Trinity. Device. * (a) P (c) 

P (0) 


“Pon nobis Bue, non nobis, sed nomini tus Da gloriam.” 


The bridge and the two other galleries were taken down in 1896, 
the panels forming the front were preserved in the framing of the 


1 Jackson’s Aubrey, p. 386. 
2Sir R. C. Hoare (Hund. of Mere, pp. 10 and 11) supplies the blanks as 
follows :— 
(a) Christ Church. 
(b) The Cross of Saint George. 
(c) 8. Bartholomew’s Hospital (Tanner’s Notitia Monastica). 
[In Hoare’s description of these arms he omits to mention the chevron 
counterchanged shown by Aubrey. | 


By OC. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 43 


pulpit and altar from 1856 until 1895, when they were replaced on 
the bridge. 

The four arches between the chancel and north and south chapels 
‘and the one on the west of the south chapel were provided with 
sereens at the same time, and these, whilst being varied in design, 
all exhibit the same feeling as the rood-screen, and the same delicate 
treatment. The two arches on the south of the chancel (one of 
which is made to fit the tomb, so that the first Lord Stourton did 
not live to see his great work completed) and the eastern one on 
the north are completely occupied by the screens, up to the apex, 
whilst the one on the west of the south chapel and the one to the 
organ arch are finished by a horizontal cornice: neither has any 
widening of the top, by vaulting or otherwise. The present top 
| piece of the organ screen is evidently (as the rebate and upper 
moulding show) the lower part of the cornice which terminated it, 
and it was only carried higher by the depth of the cornice—this 
probably indicates the level of the loft for the organ referred to in 
the churchwardens’ book in 1556. 

The entries relating to the organ are given in the Appendix. 

They commence with the blower’s salary of 8d. for the year 
1556-7, and this is continued (varying in amount, but generally 2s. 
a year) until 1591, when it ceases. In 1575 the organ was taken 
down and, presumably, re-erected, for an entry occurs in 1578 for 
repairing it. After 1591 no mention is made of the organ until 
1636, when, in an inventory of Church goods in the hands of the 
churchwardens, we find :— 


“Ty the lofte over the North Ile one payre of old decayed Organes w"" xxxvi 
‘Organe Pypes of the greater sorte in them besides the three Pypes hereafter 
chardged, besides a quantitye of small pypes w™ wer not numbred and were in 
the pype case ”’ ; 


and :— 

in the Treasurye Lofte over the North Porche theise goods Three great Pypes 
of the Organes.” 

_ In 1782 there is an entry of a “Pitchpype for the Singers.” 
Presumably therefore, from nearly the end of the sixteenth century 
onwards there was no organ in use until a new one was set up in 


A4 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


the original position in 1870: this gave place to the existing organ 
in 1886. 

Jerard the bedeman, who was doubtless stationed beneath the 
organ-loft, probably had charge of the sanctus bell as well as the 
organ bellows, as the marks of the ropes and the squint through 
the mullion of the screen indicate that it was rung from this place. 

The present stalls in the choir were originally in two sets of three ~ 
each, and they are shown retained as returned stalls facing east- 
wards on Mr. Wyatt’s plan for the restoration of the Church in 
1855, since which they have been altered and re-arranged. One 
of the old stalls is separated from the rest and used as the Vicar’s 
seat on the south, and the other two of this set are joined to the 
other three, making the row of five on the south side. The misereres 
are carved to represent (1) a fox with foliage (new) ; (2) an angel , 
holding a shield and with side foliage; (3) foliage; (4) a bearded 
head with foliage at sides; (5) a Tudor rose and leaves; (6) a head 
with tongue and two sprays of foliage protruding from mouth, with 
foliage at sides. The desk fronts on north and south sides are 
original, although much re-cut and re-faced. The ends, with their 
poppy-heads are also original, but it is doubtful whether they occupy 
their former positions. The western ends are traceried only, but 
each of the two eastern has a shield suspended from a human hand 
and bearing the arms of Kymer, which are previously mentioned : 
the latter two are more likely to have been the ends of the desk to 
the returned stalls and conspicuous “on entering the choir.” } 

The Jacobean seats in the nave are the original ones, cut down 
and re-modelled to suit modern requirements: they were made by 
“Walter the Joyner” of Maiden Bradley, between 1638 and 1641, 
when they cost £86 11s.10d. The following are the entries 
referring to them :— ‘ 

“1638. Item to the Joyner for the newe seates xij.” 

“1639, To Walter the Joyner this year 1638 for the making ang we up 


1 
of the new seates on the North side of the Church. xix. x.” 
“To Willm Gough for the Joyners Diet while the Seates were setting 
eo 
Up. Fj. x. 
pis tS eee eee 


1 Hund. of Mere, p. 11. 


By ©. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 45 


1640. Paied to Willm Walter the Joyner of Bradley for setting up the 
7 womans seates in ‘the south and north side of the Church 
a 
xxvii=00=00.” 
“1640, Paied to Richard Olliffe the Joyner for a newe ffourme to set in the 
s. 
passage to sitt uppon 00. viij . 00.” 
“1641. Item p* Willim Walter of Mayden Bradley for the-new seating 
£i 
xxiv=00=00.” 
Tt is not quite clear to what extent the Church was thus seated 
but the men and women sat apart, the latter in the south and north 
: aisles, and in 1635 a special seat was provided for the “ midwyfe.” 
_ There are many interesting entries as to the sale of seats and 
‘sir gle sittings for life between 1610 and 1850.1 Towards the end 
of this period parishioners began to erect seats for themselves. Sir 
R. OC. Hoare? refers to the rood-loft being “ much disfigured by a 
pew which rises up to a considerable height, and in a very heavy 


The two long benches in the tower are also part of Walter the 
Joyner’s work, and were evidently made for their present position, 
for the use of sponsors. They had been removed to the north 
apel, but were found to fit their present places, except that the 
me on the south had been shortened. 

The bridge across the north aisle appears from entries as to the 
etting of seats to have been widened in 1686-7 and divided into 
pwo pews—one (the northern) having four sittings, the other five 
ittings; total, nine. A gallery of similar size was set up at the 
ast end of the south aisle about 1704, containing ten seats. 

_A faculty was granted for the erection of another gallery in the 


1 This seems to have led to difficulties. In 1685 is an entry :—“ The old 
eading pew sold to James Harding 8s.” And thirteen years later is the following 
—“Mem. May y* 30, 1698. Memoranded y‘. upon debate this day 
before mee concerning y° sale of y* Old Reading Pew above mencon’d to James 
farding (it appearing y* y® Parish Clerk for y* time being was better provided 
or of a seat in y® Chancell) y* sale of y° same to y* s James Harding was by 
\d w'" y* approbacon of divers of y* Inhabitants of y* Parish then p’sent ratifyed 
nd confirmed by me. Robte: Woodward Doi Sarum.” 

2 Hund. of Mere, p. 10. 


46 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


tower in 1705, to accommodate twenty-four singers, and the rood- 
loft (called the “ Middle Gallery ’’) was arranged to seat thirty-six : 
this was in 1815 “yreserved for a school.” Besides these there 
appear to have been no galleries erected in the Church. 

There is no evidence of the medieval pulpit, but we may conclude 
that, the other woodwork of the Church being so rich, this was not 
neglected. The new pulpit set up in 1625, with its peg for the 
preacher’s hat, has also disappeared, and the present one is modern. 
There are entries for colouring the font, 1695 ; colouring pulpit and 
pew, 1699; new pulpit cloth and cushions (£10 10s.) in 1701; 
“coullering the Skrene and Font and writing the Tenn Command- 
mts,” £7 16s.,in 1603; painting font, 1705; colouring “ skrene,” 
1720; black cloth for pulpit, 1817 and 1821 (on the occasions of 
the deaths of Princess Charlotte and George III.) ; pulpit cushions 
and lights in 1822; two oak chairs, 1844. 

The floor of the Church appears to have been originally of chalk, 
and there are entries for ‘“‘malm”’ for repairing the holes. In 1636. 
we read that :— 


“ This was an extraordnye yeare ffor 3 causes—fiirst ffor that theise accomptants 
had notice to make pvision ffor Mr. Deanes Cominge at the Visitacon they came 
w* they pvided ffor but came not and coste the v" dinner. Secondly yt fell owte 
that the north leads of the South pte of the Church weare soe muche in decaye 
y* th coste there betwene 30 and 40" the Repayrenge. Thirdleye they paved — 
all the Boodye of the Churche w out the Chauncell and the ij Porches and 
Paynted the vaute and Both Church doores as by the pticulers in the said 
Accompte will shewe.” 


In 1680 an entry states :— 


“To John Bayly and W™. Ribb for draweinge the mame stoue and layenge 
the paviere at the Church 00=13=00.” 


By this it would appear that more paving was done, and again, 
in 17038 :-— 


“Ttm paid for 2 loads of Pavio's for the Church and laying them and for 
carriage of them up to Mere £05=18*.=09%.” ; 


And an entry of 18s. 4d., 


By C. E. Ponting, FSA. 47 


“pt. to William Sheppard for quartering the men that paved ye Church, being 
a fortnight’s tyme,’’ 


_ shows that workmen were again brought from outside. 

‘The inscriptions on the bells are given by the Rey. W. C. Lukis! 
as follows :— 

m= “ Mere, 6. 

~~", 2. W.C.: T. T.: C. W.: T. P.: Anno Domini, 1665. 

*3, Anno Domini, 1660. W.B.: W.H.: C. W.: D. T&L. 

_ “4, Messieurs Phillips and Mitchell, Churchwardens. J. Kingston, Founder, 
Bridgewater, 1828. 

“5. oe Stella Maria Maris Succurre Piissima Nobis. * 

6, Mr. Giles Forward and Mr. Giles Jupe, C* W* 1747. William Cockey, 
Bellfounder.” 

There were, as we have seen, four bells in 1220, but these—as 
might have been expected—have been replaced or re-cast. There 
is an inventory which mentions five bells in good repair in 1635. 
The first and second of the present peal were cast in 1665 by F. 
Purdue, of Salisbury, when the peal was made up to six; and the 
third in 1660, by John Sett, of Salisbury. There are no entries 
in the churchwardens’ book from 1646 till 1672, so that these 
items do not appear. The tenor bell was re-cast by William 
Cockey, of Frome, in 1747. He was paid 20s. per ewt. for re-casting 
24ewt. 1g. 4/bs. of old metal and 13s. per lb. for lewt. lg. 37b. of 
new added metal, and a new clapper, 39/bs. Mr. Giles Jupe—one 
of the churchwardens—was paid 19s. for bringing it from Frome. 
The fourth bell had 241b. of iron added to its clapper in 1593, the 
result being to crack it, and it was re-cast at Yeovil, being hauled 
there by one Ganett, of Knoyle. In 1616 it was again re-cast by 
Mr. Wallys, together with the little bell (in the sanctus bell-cot), at 
a cost of £12, with an additional £9 5s. for lewt. 2s. 17/bs. of 
added metal. There is also an entry :— 

“flor entertayninge Mr. Wallys the bell founder att tymes. 3°.” 


In 1828 the fourth bell was again re-cast, at Bridgwater, by 
J. Kingston. | 


1 Wilts Arch. May., vol. iv., p. 158. 
“2 This bears two shields—one charged with a Bend dexter ; the other with 
0 oss Keys between @ mitre, pastoral staff, a chalice, and another figure.” 


48 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


There are many entries from 1556 onwards for leather “ bal- 
dricks,” or “ bawdricks,” for the bells, and buckles for the same, 
also for payments to ringers on various occasions, thus :— 


“1636. To the Ringers when Mr. Dockter Chafin went throughe the Towne 
and p’cession xij4,”” 

“1685. Itm to the Ringers when Munmoth was taken. 00=05=00.” 

“1691. Itm p* for beere gave the Ringers the Gunpowder Treason and the 
Thanksgiving day for the reduceinge of Ireland. 01=09=06.” 

“1704. Itm to y* Ringers the Thanksgiving day for y* Duke of Marlboroughs 
victory obtained aganst y* french. O00=18=06.” 


The bells were in 1705 rung from a new gallery erected in the 
tower in that year. 

Very interesting are the many entries in the churchwardens’ 
book relating to ritual and to the arrangements and the fittings 
and furniture of the Church :— 


“1556. Itm Receuyd of Edithe Brabante whiche she gave to the Churche of 
devocyon to be prayed for. xij’.” 

“Itm payed to Robert Cowherd, for the Redemynge of certeyn sylvre 
spones of the Churche stock, which he had in gage, by the delynd 
of the Churchwardeyns for xls. of money borowed of hym to thuse 
of the Churche xl*.” 

“TItm payed for the lampe Taper, and the Trendell. iij*. vj*.” 

“Ttm for a bawdrick for the belles. ij’. viij*.” 

“Ttm payed for a Buckell for a Bawderick. ij*.”’ 

“Ttm to Robte Peareman for the pascall Taper and for too other 
Tapers for the Aulter. ix*.’’ 

“Ttm for mendynge of the Stremer and of the sylke banner, Ageynst 


the p’cessyon weke, this yere. xvj*.” 


(The ‘“ Pascall taper’? was doubtless for use at the Easter 
sepulchre.) 


©1636. More to the Ca'penter for 210 foote of borde to laye under the Ledd 
of the South Ile at ix* per © is xix*. 
“ ffor a quarter of Tymber to Lyne! the Jesse there. v'.”’ 


1“ Jesse. A large brass candlestick, with many sconces, hanging down in the 
Middle of a Church or choir, which Invention was first called Jesse from the 
similitude of the branches of those of the Arbor Jesse ; and this useful ornament 
of Churches was first brought over into this Kingdom by Hugh de Flory, Abbot 
of St. Austin’s in Canterbury about the year 1100. (Chron. Will. Thorn, 
1796.)” From Jacob’s Law Dictionary. 

To “line the clothes ” is a local term for hanging them out to dry. 


“ 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 49 


The last is a curious entry, and I can only conclude it was a 
beam from which to hang a brass candelabrum. That there was 
such a means of lighting appears from the following entry :— 

“1753. Paid Henry Lewins for mending one of the sconces. 1*. 6%.” 


1558. Paid for a Sacrynge bell iij*.” 
»  Itm for makynge the lamp taper and for ffyllynge of the wexe 


“4? 


Trendell. ij. viij*. 


The two following are suggestive—(Dr. Chafyn was at this time 
Vicar) :-— 


©1639. ffor an Houre Glasse for the Churche. xij‘.” 
1640. Paied for an halfe houre glasse. 00—01=00.” 


Under the date 1636 occurs an interesting inventory of the 
ornaments and other goods belonging to the Church. This is 
printed in full in the Appendix. 


The following refer to the Church books :— 


“1560. Whereof payde for a Boke of the Englisshe byble to be used in the 
Churche accordyng to the Iniunccons. xxvi*. viij*.” 
“ Tim payed for a boke of the Comunyon, iij bokes of the psalter, 
and too other bokes to syng the suyce yn. xiij’.” 
“Ttm for a boke of the paraphrases of Erasmus. v".” 
“ Itm to John Shepherd for a pcessyonall boke. ii*.” 
“1562. Itm for a Table paynted with the tenne comanndm®. And for a 
Kalender and a boke of the homelyes. ij°. iiij*.” 
“Item for a Queyre of paper, to make a boke for the Churche of 
crystenyngs, maryeing, and buryeng. iii‘.” 
“1566. ffor a saulter booke. xx*.” 
1578. Itm paied to Mr. Willm Drewe the Clarke of the Assizes for allowing 
of the Charter of the libties of Meere. v’.” 
“1582. Anew Bible. xviij*. vj‘.” 
“1591. Imp’ims for the Changing of the old bible for one of the largest 
volume. xviij’.” 
“1635. ffor Bishop Jewells works bought in London xl*. ffor newe tryming 
the same book then and the carriage down with a Box for the same’ 
booke. v*. iiij’.” 


This book is referred to in the inventory of 1636 as being “‘tyed 
wth a litle Iron Chayne in the Comunion Chauncell.” Part of a 
small chain now remains attached to the chapel side of one of the 
north screens, but this must have been for some other book (? a 
bible). 
VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVI. BE 


50 The Parish Church of 8. Michael, Mere. 


1748, Pd for a new common prayer book. 15/6.” 

1781, Fora Royal folio Bible in Rough Calf for use in the Church, £3. 13. 6.” 
“One demy folio prayer book. 17/-.” 

“1789. A new prayer book. 20/-.” 


It may be well to give a translation by the late Dr. Baron,! of 
Upton Scudamore, with his notes, of the inventory of Dean William 
de Wanda’s visitation, 1220.2 This is given in Appendix C., to- 
gether with translations, with notes, of extracts from the Sarum 
Registers of Deans Chandler (1404—1418) and Sydenham (1418 
—1425).8 

From these extracts we are able to form a good idea of the books, 
vestments, and ornaments belonging to the Church at these periods. 
The book having a cross on which oaths are sworn, the portable 
altar of marble, the ivory pix hanging over the altar, the silver pix 
for conveying the Lord’s Body to the sick, the ivory comb for the 
ceremonial combing of the celebrant’s hair, the processional cross of 
copper with a subsequently-acquired cross of agate, the linen cloth 
for covering up the cross in Lent, the silver-gilt chalice ornamented 
with the crucifix, the three linen cloaks to cover up the image of 
the Blessed Virgin, and the various vestments are of peculiar 
interest and show how richly this Church was appointed. 

The entries in the churchwardens’ book as to Church plate* are 
numerous—probably some of them refer to vessels used for Church 
ales, of which mention is made yearly down to 1613, in which year 
the profits are entered as £21 5s. It was not unusual to pawn 
the articles to raise money, as we see by the entry (1556) quoted on 
p. 48. 

In 1625 there is an entry in the churchwardens’ book of :— 


“A double rate this yeare alsoe for this yeare alsoe for that the Church was 
verie much in Decay.” 


In 1707 Michael Downes was paid £2 14s. 8d. “ for putting up 
the iron barr to goe a-Thwart ye Church”; it may be gathered 

1 Dr. Baron’s translation has been slightly altered in one or two places in order 
that it may agree with the Latin text as printed here. 


2 Mere Parish Magazine, September and October, 1884. 
3 [bid, November, 1884, 4 Appendix J. 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 51 


from this, and the entries that follow, that the south clerestory was 
leaning outwards. The remedy does not appear to have been 
sufficient, and this part of the Church continued to be a cause of 
anxiety :— 

1708. Itm. paid to a free mason and his son for advice 4/-.” 


It seems that in 1710 the Dean ordered the south side, which 
was in danger of falling, to be repaired, and in the same year the 
following entry occurs :— 


1710. Itm paid to a Surveyor for his journey and advice and expences upon 
him and horse £1. 6. 6.” 


But in the following year, nothing further having been done 
the Dean strictly enjoined that the work must forthwith be carried 
out sub pano excommunicationis, and then we find the entries continue 
as follows :— 


“1711. Itm pd. Leisster the Surveyo' for his coming to Mere. 10/-.” 
Itm p‘ in expence and fees to Goslyn the Surveyor. 17/6.” 


After these preliminary expenses for advice (and probably 
estimates of cost) the vicar and churchwardens called in another 
surveyor, by whose advice the partial re-building of the three 
western columns of the south arcade was taken in hand, and the 
_ arches and clerestory of this part were taken down and re-built, 
Tisbury stone being used in this work—the Doulting stone remaining 
in the bases and lower parts of the columns. Two medallions on 
the wall record this event as follows :— 


“1712. 
This south side wall and roof was repaired 
Mr. John Hardcastle M.A. 
being Vicar William Harding & William Forward Churchwardens.” 


“1712. 
At the cost and charge of the Parishioners 
of Mere and performed by Mr. Charles 
Stoakes of London, Surveyor of Buildings.” 


The following entries in the churchwardens’ book relate to it :— 


“1712. These Accomp* doe crave allowance of one Bill paid to Mr. Stokes 
who undertook the South side of o° parish Church to secure it 


E2 


52 The Parish Church of 8. Michael, Mere. 


being likely to fall and took it down and raised it up againe 
for y® sum of £124,” 
“Ttm p* towards the articles of Agreem‘ with Stokes 5/-.” 
“Itm pd. in Expence in Treating with Stoakes when hee undertook 
to carry on the concerns of the Church. 15/10.” 
“Itm gave the workmen when the Rooffe was draw! in. 5/-.” 
“Ttem paid for mending and new making the Images that was 
defective. £5.” 

(This doubtless refers to the angels in the cornice, and those with 
plain shields may have been renewed at this time.) 

“Ttem paid to John Green for whiting the new pillars and new 
pointing the windows and cornish. 4/9.” 

The last entry proves that in 1712 the inside of the Church was 
whitewashed, and that the churchwardens, notwithstanding that 
they drew up articles of agreement with Mr. Stokes, did not bind 
him to make good the whitewashing and pointing occasioned by 
his work, as would be done in the present day. 

In 1817 the “S. Aisle” was repaired at a cost of £54 5s. 9d. ; 
this probably consisted in re-building the south porch and the parts 
adjacent. 


The pinnacles of the tower were a constant source of expense. In 
1568 we have an entry of “ Pinacles repaired.” In 1630 Robte 
Bundy was paid 55s. 2d. for “mending the pinacles.” 


“1639. To goodman Boles 9" February for taking down of the Pynakle 
and for other work. 35/9.” 

“1640. Item given to two men that came from Wells to see the decay of 
the Pinnacle. 1/6.” 

1703. Robte Bundy for mending of the pynacles of the Church and for 
the stones. 12/2.” 


This is doubtless a descendant of the man of the same name who 
did similar work in 16380. 
“1639. To John Guyre and his company for setting up of the Pynicle 
of the Church. £9.” 
(This is probably the one taken down by goodman Boles in 1639.) 


“To the same men for mending the othe Pynicles of the Tower 
and men to help them in the work. £2. 9. 6.” 
“1704, Paid one Thomas Cox and John Cowly for setting up the pinical 
that was blowne downe in the Great Tempest. £5.10. 0.” ~ 
“Paid for y® stones for y® pinecal and Carriadg. £1.14. 0.” 


By ©. EB. Ponting, F.S.A. 53 


“1705. Paid John Cowlyes bill for setting up the pinicle and other work. 
; fon 7. 9.” 

& “1717. Bowden the mason in part of his money towards setting up the 
pinnical. £20.” 


Repairs to pinnacles are recorded in 1745, 1793, and 1847. 
In 1878 the north-west pinnacle was struck by lightning, and 
the top had to be re-built. 
In 1888 the north-east pinnacle was in a dangerous state and 
was re-built stone for stone—the entire tower being scaffolded and 
__re-pointed at the same time. On this occasion it was not found 
to be necessary to go out of Mere for a builder to do this, as in 
1640 and 1704, for it was well done by Mr. John Avery. 
The lead roof of the tower was renewed in 1616, and again in 
1700 (at an outlay of £61 15s. 2d.) and for the third time this 
month (November, 1896), at a cost almost the same as in 1700. 


It was a frequent practice to play games in the churchyard, and 
the plain faces of the south and north walls of the tower afforded 
good opportunity for fives: the former was called the great fives 
_ place and the latter the little fives place, and the west windows of 
_ the aisles overlooking them were called “fives place windows.” 
_ There are the following entries :— 

- “1691. Itm for casting the earth abroad in the ffives place.” 
_ “1705. Itm sold to Philip Strong ju the whole intire seat under the Little 


. ffives place window for his life and paid for y* same 2/-.” 
4 “Paid for mending y® fives place windowe, 4/-.” 


_ There was formerly a cross in the churchyard, although there is 
n ) trace of it left, and it is even doubtful where it stood. The 


chwardens’ book records :— 
“1556. For two lode of stones w‘ the cariage for the new makeynge of 
the Crosse yn the Churcheyard. 4/-.” 

“For the Base stone and the stemme for the same Crosse 2/-.” 


“To the Masons for their labo" for the newe makyng of the same 
Crosse in the Churchyard. 17/6.” 


From this it is evident that the cross was only re-built in 1556, 
and that one existed previously. This one does not appear to have 


k 


54 The Parish Church of 8. Michael, Mere. 


A yew tree was planted in 1636 and another in 1707, thirty new 
lime trees in 1732, and ten lime trees in 1892. 

New gates and piers were set up in 1716 at a cost of £11. 

In the museum over the north porch is a piece of sculpture in 
alabaster which has an interesting history. It was dug up ina 
garden under Castle Hill, and taken to Mrs. Matthews, of Mere, 
and at a sale of her effects on 8th April, 1888, it was bought for 
10s. by Mr. T. H. Baker, of Mere Down, and presented to the 
Church. The subject is the Adoration of the Magi. On the back 
is the inscription anno . 5. 72. viv es": It probably means vivus. 
THEOS . EST=“‘ He is the Living God.” This relic doubtless had a 
place in the castle. 


APPENDICES. 
A, 


The following is the text of Bishop Osmund’s grant of half the revenues 
of the Church at Mere to his new Cathedral at Old Sarum :— 

A.D. 1091, Carta Osmundi qlee Me 

“In nomine Sanctee et Individue Trinitatis Ego Osmundus Sarum ecclesia 
episcopus, omnibus Christi fidelibus tam posteris notifico quam presentibus ad 
honorem Domini Jhu Christi sanctissimaque Marie Virginis, et pro saluti 
animarum Willielmi regis et uxoris sue regine Matilde atque filii sui 
Willielmi regis Anglorum regni successoris pro saluti etiam anime suze 
ecclesiam Sarum me construxisse et in ea canonicos constituisse atque illis 
viventibus canonice bona ecclesiz ita sicut ipse optimerare libere et ut exigit 
regulam censura canonice in perpetuam concessisse; has scilicet villas preter 
militum terras . . . . dimidiam ecclesiam de Mera cum medietati decimz 
et ceteris ibidem appendiciis ; ri 


B. 


The entry in the Register of Bishop Osmund mentioning the dedication of 
Mere Church is as follows :— 

A.D. 1190. De Mera. ‘“Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego Eustachius 
de Bailleul divine caritatis pietatis intuitu et pro salute anima mez et uxoris 
mez Petronilla et antecessorum meorum dedi et concessi ecclesie S. Michaelis 
de Mera gardinum quod est juxta curiam ejusdem ecclesiw et eadem villa in 
liberam puram et perpetuam elemosinam,” &c., &c. 


—— 


By C. E. Ponting, FS.A. 


5d 


C. 


1“Tnventarium factum in Ecclesia de 
Mera, per W. Decanum Sarum, Anno 
D’ni MCCXX. qui erat annus tertius 
Pontificatus Ric’i Sar. Ep’i, in vigilia 
S’ti Michaelis. 

“ Eeclesia fundata est in honore 
Sancti Michaelis Archangeli et sunt ibi 
in majori ecclesia‘ tria altaria, unum in 
honore beatz Virginis et unum in honore 
beati Thome martiris et unum in honore 
S. Marie Magdalene. Sunt etiam in 
ipsa parochia due capellz pertinentes ad 
eandem ecclesiam capella de Seles que 
est de Sancto Martino cui debetur offi- 
cium tribus diebus per ebdomadam et 
alia capella apud Chaundeswic que est 
de eodem sancto et idem debetur ei offi- 
cium. Item alia capella apud Deverel 
quam tenet Walterus decanus pro quat- 
uor marcis per quatuor terminos anni 
et est capella de Sancto Andrea et est 
de dominio canonicorum Cenomansium 
quorum terra [sic] habet Ricardus de 
Dernefordad firmam. Ecclesia dedicata, 
cancellum discoopertum, cymiterium 


- non clausum bestiis pervium. Item est 


ibi turris cum quatuor campanis. 
5“Galfridus Capellanus annuus per- 


_ cipit omnia preter garbas et fenum, et 


 habet 


reddit inde 8 mare.ad 4 term’ anni. Et 
Capellanum secum, 


_ et Diaconum, et facit deservire duabus 


capellis. 
“ Hii sunt Libri ecclesiz de Mere unum 


{ [in margin, “de dono Ate Decani”] missale 
 novum et sufficiens cum nota sufiici- 5 


1 Hoare. 


” 


5 “ Galfridus ’—* capellis,” Hoare. 


Dr. Baron. 


“An Inventory made in the Church 
of Mere by W——* Dean of Sarum 
A.D. 1220, which was the third year 
of the consecration of Richard,? Bishop 
of Salisbury, on the eve of St. Michael. 

“The Church is founded in honour 
of St. Michael the Archangel, and there 
are in the larger Church three altars ; 
1 in honour of the Blessed Virgin; 1 
in honour of St. Thomas the Martyr ; 
1 in honour of St. Mary Magdalene. 
In this parish are also 2 chapels be- 
longing to the same Church : the chapel 
of Zeals which is St. Martin’s, to which 
is due service three days a week ; another 
chapel at Chadenwych which is of the 
same saint, and the same service is due 
to it. There is also another chapel at 
Deverel, which Dean Walter holds for 
4 marks, by the 4 terms of the year, 
and the chapel is of St. Andrew, and is 
of the demesne of the Canons of Le 
Mans, whose land Richard de Derneford 
has to farm. 

“ The Church is consecrated, the chan- 
cel uncovered, the graveyard now first 
fenced against beasts. ‘There is also a 
tower with 4 bells. Geoffery the yearly 
chaplain receives all except sheaves and 
hay, and renders therefrom 8 marks at 
the 4 terms of the year. And he has 

chaplain with him, and a 
deacon, and provides service at the two 
chapels. 

“These are the books of the Church 
of Mere. One missal (of the gift of 


Not given by Malden. 
2 William de Wanda was Dean of Sarum, A.D. 1220 to 1226. 


8 Richard Poore became Bishop of Salisbury in A.D. 1217, and was promoted 


to Durham, A.D, 1229. 

_ 4The phrase “major ecclesia” is used to discriminate between the parish 

_ Church and the three chapels of Zeals, Chadenwich, and Deverel, which were 
also in the parish. 


Not given by Malden, but translated by 


56 


enti et unum vetus cum nota suffi- 
ciens [sic] unum breviarium in duobus 
voluminibus in asseribus ligatum Duo 
antiphonaria unum novum in quo conti- 
neturLin margin, ‘ de dono Decani Rie,’*]psal- 
terium et collectariumet capitularium et 
ymnarium et aliud in quocontinetur col- 
lectarium et capitularium et ymnarium 
et est ligandum. Item unum gradale 
bonum et sufficiens sed ligandum et 
aliud vetus cum tropario parvi pretii 
unum manuale in quaternis x minus 
plenarii, et unum psalterium nullius 
pretii. [° Item i gradale novum de dono 
Galfridi presbiteri Item i liber vetus- 
tissimus habens crucem superpositam 
super quam juratur. ] 

“Ttem ornamenta ejusdem ecclesiz, 
unum [in margin, “ de dono Ate Decani ”'] par 
vestimentorum sufficiens et ydoneum 
sine casula et tria vestimenta quorum 
duo sunt sufficientia cum casulis sericis et 
tertium par vestimentorum vetus etat- 
tritum cum|[*casula de fuscotincto ]simi- 
liter attrita Item mantilia xv sufficien- 
tia quorum viii vel plura sunt benedicta 
et duo calices deaurati quorum unus est 
ponderis xxiv solidorum et alter [xix 


1 Adam of Ilchester was Dean of Sarum, A.D. 1215—1220. 


distinctly “ Ate” in the MS. 


The Parish Church of 8. Michael, Mere. 


Adam the Dean') new and sufficient, 
with sufficient notation; 2? and one old 
with sufficient notation. One breviary 
in 2 vols. bound in boards.’ 

“Two antiphonaries* of the gift of 
Dean Richard ;* one new in which is 
contained the psalter, and collects, and 
epistles, and gospels, and hymns, and 
another containing collects, epistles, and 
gospels, and hymns, and is to be bound. 
And one gradual® good and sufficient, 
but to be bound ; and another old, with 
a tropariam? of little value. One 
manual in four parts. Ten incomplete 
and one psalter of no value. Also 1 
new gradual, of the gift of Geoffrey 
the priest. Also 1 very old book having 
set upon it a cross upon which oaths 
are sworn. 

* Also ornaments of the same Church, 
One set of vestments (of the gift of 
Adam the Dean), sufficient and service- 
able without chasuble;!° and three 
vestments of which two are suffi- 
cient with silk chasubles; and a 
third set of vestments old and worn 
with [dark coloured chasuble] like- 
wise worn. 


The name is 


2 Notes of music. 


3 7.¢e., of wood. 
4 Antiphonary, an office book of the Latin Church, containing the antiphons 
and other portions of the service which were sung antiphonally. 
5 Richard Poore was Dean of Sarum, A.D. 1198. 
§ Gradual, a book containing the psalms, &c., to be sung from the step of the 


lesser desk after the epistle. 


7 Troparium, a book of alternate responses in singing mass. 
8 Added in a later hand. 
® These words erased by a later hand. 
10 The vestments of a priest for mass are the amice, alb, girdle, stole, maniple, 
and chasuble (this latter is called generally “the vestment”), and in 
inventories and constitutions of bishops, two pairs of vestments mean two sets 


of chasubles, amices, alb, &c., 7.¢., all the articles mentioned above ; 


also 


occasionally it included the vestments for deacon and sub-deacon at high mass. 


1 Later insertion. 


~ 


solidorum] Duo paria corporalium bona 
et satis ydonea et unum altare marmo- 
reum portabile et una pixis eburnea de- 
pendens super altare cum eukarista et 
deferendum corpus Domini infirmis et 
alia lignea depicta et duo fiole de stanno 
et v vexilla vetera et unum bonum Item 
duo panni serici ante altare et duo alii 
ad modum thoralis et unus lineus flori- 
bus protractus et una vetus cortina et 
unus pannus quadragesimalis vetus et 
attritus et tria pepla ad Mariolam co- 
operiendam linea Item duo candelabra 
de cupro et thuribulum eneum et est 
ibi sacrarium sufficiens [* Item Liber 
Evangeliorum vetus et attritus] et crux 
processionalis de cupro Item i pecten 
eburneum. 

“4 Haec sunt postmodum adquisita 
iiii mantilia quorum unum est paratum 
i crux processionalis de gagate Item i 
alba parata de dono Margarete de Sele 
(> Item i casula serica de dono Galfridi 
presbiteri] Item i vexillum sericum de 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 


57 


“‘ Also 15 towels,! sufficient of which 
8 or more are blessed, and 2 chalices 
gilt, of which one is of the weight of 
24 shillings, and the other of 19 shil- 
lings. 

“Two sets of corporals, good and 
sufficiently serviceable, and one portable 
altar of marble, and one pix? of ivory, 
hanging down over the altar, with eu- 
charist ; and another of silver, of the 
weight of 4 shillings, to carry the Lord’s 
Body to the sick, and another of wood 
decorated with painting, and 2 cruets 
of tin, and 5 old banners and 1 good. 

* Also two silk cloths before the 
altar, and two others after the fashion 
of a coverlet, and one linen, encircled 
with flowers, and one old curtain; and 
one lenten cloth old and worn, and three 
linen cloaks to cover up the image of 
the Blessed Virgin. Also two candle- 
sticks of eopper, and a brass thurible, 
and there is a sufficient sacring bell and 
a cross for processions, of copper. Also 
one ivory comb.6 These were subse- 


-1The word towel, as used in old inventories, has three significations. First, 


it means the rich covering of silk and gold which used to be laid over the top of 
the altar except during mass; secondly, it refers to linen altar cloths ; thirdly, 
_ the word towel is used in its ordinary acceptation to signify linen cloths for 
wiping the hands. 

2 Pix, in its literal sense, means a box, but it is generally understood as a 
vessel to contain the holy eucharist. Pixes were, however, used as reliquaries, 
and as cases for altar bread. 


3 Erased in later hand. Not given in Hoare or Baron. 
4 All from here is in the same later hand as the marginal notes. 
5 Not in Hoare or Baron. 
—§*Qombs were among the appurtenances of an ancient sacristy, and were 


sometimes exceedingly beautiful in design. Durandus, Rationale, lib. iv., c. 3, 


states that of old bishops, when about to celebrate, were wont to comb their 
heads. This is a custom borrowed from the East, and still retained in the Greek 
“Church. (In an archiepiscopal liturgy in 1870 I saw the long back hair of a 
Greek archbishop ritually combed out during the service). If it was a bishop 
who pontificated, the deacon and sub-deacon combed his hair as soon as his 
sandals had been put on his feet, while sitting on his fald-stool ; if a priest 


58 The Parish Church 


dono Elie Wikint Item i vexillum de 
dono Luce Drumare de armis ejusdem 
Item iii panni linei incisi et picti ante 
altaria de perquisitione J Capellani 
Item unum lintheum ad cooperiendam 
crucem tempore quadragesimali Item 
i superpelliceum vetus et i rochetta 
Item est ibi unus truncus ferro ligatus 


of S. Michael, Mere 


quently acquired, four towels, of which 
one is apparelled ; one processional cross 
of agate ; also one alb, apparelled, of the 
gift of Margaret of Zeals; also one silk 
banner of the gift of Elias Wikine; 
also one banner of the gift of Luke 
Drumare, with the arms of the same ; 
also three linen cloths pierced and 


[in margin, ‘‘arca qua oportet poni pannus ad 
sustinendum pannum sericum.’? | in quo re- 
ponuntur libri Item i archa in qua re- 
ponuntur vestimenta.” 


figured before altars, acquired by 
Chaplain J .; also a linen 
cloth for covering up the cross in 
time of Lent; ? also one surplice 
old, and one rochette;? and there 
is a trunk bound with iron [a chest in 
which a cloth should be put to hold up 
the silk cloth] in which the books are 
kept ; also one chest in which the vest. 
ments are kept.” 


D. 


Further inventories from the Registers of Deans Chandler (1404—1418) and 
Sydenham (1418—1425.) 


Ornaments of the Church of Mere. 

“ Ornaments of the Chantry of Mere. In the first place one silver-gilt chalice 
with image of the Crucified on the foot, with paten the Agnus Dei in the middle ; 
two silver cruets; also four corporals with four burses; also one missal on the 
second folio of which after the Kalendar gt MITTERE, also one other missal with 
[musical] notes on second folio of which after the Kalendar xr sEMPER ; also 
one portforium * on the second folio of which Br vir; also one other portforium 
[musically] noted on second folio of which DEVIs QUI; also one gradual with 


—_——_ 


celebrated, the same office of the comb was done for him as he sat within his 
niched seat, the first of those three sedilia in the presbytery to be observed in 
most of our parish Churches, built of stone against the southern wall of the 
chancel.” (Rock’s “ Church of our Fathers.”) 

1 Dr. Rock gives a woodcut from a Flemish book of Hours showing the interior 
of a Church during Lent, and the rood with St. Mary and St. John, wrapped up 
in white cloths. (“ Church of our Fathers.’”) 

2 As the surplice is an augmentation of the albe, so the rocket is a diminution 
of the same, for the sake of convenience being shorter, and either with tighter 
sleeves or without sleeves. (Pugin.) 

3 Portforium is the Salisbury name for breviary. 


222 Sees 


Se ee ee 


Th Ew 


ee ee 


ei: ee Oe 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 59 


[musical] notes on second folio of which Quam P’P’T; also one ordinal? on 
second folio of which ALTI JUS ENIM; also one book called rationale divinorum? 
on second folio of which zr vita; also one p’o oculi on second folio of which 
after oustodias 88 HERE; also one book of deeretals on second folio of which 
ILLUD INVENIRE NON POTEST; also one . . . . of which on second folio 
TALI QUOD DIE.” 

“Ormaments . . . . In the first place one set of vestments of white 
colour, of cloth of gold, powdered with griffens heads of gold, with one chasuble, 
two tunics, three copes, with appurtenances and frontal, and sub-frontal* of the 
same; also four curtains of white tartan; also one set of vestments of black 
colour, of worsted,‘ with chasuble, two tunics, three copes with the appurtenances 
of the same set; also one set of vestments of ruby baudekin,® with white birds ; 
also one set of vestments of blood red baudekin; also one set of vestments of 
green tartan ; also one set of ruby tartan, with one chasuble, two tunics and one 
cope, with appurtenances; also one set of cloth, decorated with gold of Morre ® 
colour, powdered with heads of griffens; viz.: one chasuble, two tunics and 
apparels? of one albe of the same set, and apparels of two other albes, of different 
colours ; also one albe with amice, of which the apparels are of blood colour; 
also three amices, of which one apparel is of divers arms;* another is of 
cloth, ornamented with gold, powdered with fleurs-de-lis, and the third 
is of ruby velvet, powdered with golden griffens; also six towels of which 
four are of Parisian? work; also three frontals; also two wipers, and another 

“oe The said Chantry is dedicated in honeur of the Annunciation of 
the Blessed Virgin Mary; also a pall® of green colour, powdered with lions and 
peacocks, picked out with gold. 

“Memorandum of the Books of the Chantry of Mere, which are wanting. In 


1 The word ordinal is now commonly used to mean the ordination services 
which are bound up with the English Book of Common Prayer, but in mediaval 
lists of Church books Ordinale means a book of rubrical directions for priests, 

? This is the celebrated work Rationale Divinorum Officionarum, by William 
Durandus, who was Bishop of Mende, in Languedoc, and died 1296. 

3 This, from the connection, seems to be the meaning of “fromite ”’ and “ sub- 
fromite.” 

4 Worsted was first made at Worsted, Norfolk, about 1348. 

5 Baudekin, the richest kind of stuff, the web being gold, and the woof silk, 
with embroidery, so called from an Oriental name for Babylon, whence the stuff 
was brought. 

5 Dark red. 
7 Apparels=ornamental coloured borders. 
8 Divers arms, 7.e., heraldic coats of arms. 

® The palls anciently used at the funerals of persons of distinction were of a 

most costly and beautiful description, frequently of velvet,’or cloth-of-gold, with 


- embroidered imagery and heraldic devices. The palls used for ecclesiastical 


purposes were of four kinds :—first, palls for covering the bier and coffin at 
funerals; second, palls for extending over tombs; third, ornamental palls to 
hang in choirs at festivals ; fourth, linen cloths to cover the altars. 


60 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


the first place, one Bible and one Hugucion, which are in the custody of Sir 
Richard Cheddesey, also Egidius de Regimine perseveranda, which is in the 
custody of John de Clevedon ; also a set de Element and sixth book of Decretals, 
in the custody of Sir John Robbetut, Rector of Penrith ; also one book called 
Albanus, which is in the custody of Sir John Chasse; also one set of vestments 
which is in the custody of Sir John Berkeley, Knight.” 


E. 


In 1324 King Edward II. granted to Johannes de Mere certain lands and 
rents in Mere to provide a chaplain to pray daily in the Parish Church of 
Mere for the soul of Margaret, late Queen of England and for the souls of the 
aforesaid John and Alianer his wife, and for the souls of their fathers and 
mothers, of their ancestors and heirs, and for all the faithful deceased. 


The following is from the Registrum Mortival (addenda to Hoare’s Modern 
Wilts, p. 4) :— 

“Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego Joh’es de Mere dedi et concessi et hac 
presenti carta mea confirmavi, Deo et B. Maria ac d’no Joh’i de Mere capellano, 
dum singulis diebus in Kccl’ia paroch’ 8. Michelis de Mere ad altare in honore 
Annunciatis B. Marie in eadem LEccl’ia noviter erectum pro anima D’nex 
Margarete quondam Regine Anglix, et anima mea &c. ‘ 

* Dat’ apud Mere predict’ die Lune in crastino S. Michaelis pe 
anno D’ni 1325, anno vero Regis Edwardi filii R. Edw’di decimo nono.’ 


F. 


Bettesthorne Chantry. 


The Bettesthorne Chantry was founded in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary (where the brass still lies), and was dedicated in honour of the Annuncia- 
tion of the Virgin. It originally consisted of one chaplain only, but a further 
license was subsequently obtained from the king to increase the endowment for 
the maintenance of two other chaplains, who were daily to perform divine 
service in the said chapel “for the good estate of the said John whilst he lived, 
and for his soul when he should depart out of this light, for the souls of his 
parents and other ancestors, and for the souls of all the faithful departed, for 
ever.” 

A second inquisition, taken on the decease of Bettesthorne, on behalf of the 
Mere Chantry, describes the lands and tenements forming its endowment, which 
appear to have consisted of one messuage, forty acres of land, and twelve acres 
of meadow, in Clopton; ten acres of land and two of meadow, at Gillingham ; 
nine messuages, eighty acres of land, four of meadow, and one of wood, in Mere ; 
together with the manors of Mere and Chadenwyche. (Kite’s “ Brasses of 
Wiltshire,” p. 23.) 


—— 


By ©. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 61 


The rents of the Mere property of the Bettesthorne Chantry are collected to 
the present time, and are now owned by Meyrick Banks, Esq. They are as 
follows (in Mere) :— 


£8. d. £s. da 

Mr. Rumsey’s house, Brought forward £7 4 10 

corner of Church St. 111 8 Mr.Standerwick’s(Castle St.) 7 6 

Chantry Mead 9 2 Cottages opposite Church 18 0 

Chantry House Be 9 12 House in Castle St. (Bun- 

Walton’s House 13 4 galow) 0 

On Jesse’s property, Zeals 9 0 Mr. Walton’s shop 19 0 
House in ChurchSt.(Harding) 6 0 
Charles Lander (Brewery) 6 6 

es £10 5 4 

Carried forward £7 4 10 ——— 


List of hatchments in the Bettesthorne Chantry Chapel. 
On the south wall :— 

The easternmost is Chafin, probably that of one of the sons of William and 
Mary Chafin, who inherited the estate and died a bachelor. Arms.—Gules, a 
talbot passant, or, a chief ermine. 

_ West of the last is the hatchment of William Chafin, who died 1695. He 
married Mary Freke. The arms are: Chafin quartering Erlegh and Marsh (?) 
impaling Freke. 


The southernmost, Grove impaling Grove. William ‘Chafin Grove of Zeals, 
M.P., died 1793. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Grove, of Ferne. 
The second is, Grove impaling Acland. Charles Grove, M.D., of Salisbury, 
gon of William Chafin Grove, died 1806. He married Elizabeth, daughter of 
_ Arthur Acland, Esq., of Fairfield. 
The third is, Grove. Chafin Grove, Esq., died a bachelor, 1851. 


On the north wall :— 
(1) The westernmost is that of William Chafin Grove, Esq., who died 1859. 
He married Eleanor Michell, of Standen House, Hungerford, whose arms are 
impaled with those of her husband (2) in the lozenge adjoining. 


' 
ki On the west wall are as follows :— 
' 


G. 


A Catalogue of the Contents of the Museum in the Parvise over the North 
Porch of St. Michael's Church, Mere, Wiltshire, established in 1896. 


*.* The name, &c., in parentheses () following the description of each article shows the source 
whence derived. 


Walls :— 

‘Speed’s Map of Wiltshire. (Purehased.) 

Wardour Castle—Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, 1732. (Purchased.) 
“Nunye Castle—Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, 1733. (Thomas H. Baker.) 


62 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


An old mantelpiece, as it existed in 1876 in an old barn in Castle Street, Mere, 
which was pulled down in 1891, supposed to have been originally the rectory. 
This mantelpiece, together with a smaller one which stood on an upper story 
of the same building, were removed by Miss Julia K. Chafyn Grove about 1886, 
and presented to the Church House, at Salisbury. This pencil drawing was 
taken by Mr. Ernest Baker. (Mrs. Ernest Baker.) 

Rubbings of brasses in Mere Church. 

An unknown knight, date 1427. Supposed to be Sir John Berkeley, who married 
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir John Bettisthorne. 

Sir John Bettisthorne, of Chadenwych. Date, A.D. 1398. 

From Clyffe Pypard Church :—a knight, probably Quentin. Date, circa A.D. 
1380. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

From Dauntsey Church:—Dame Anne Danvers. Date, A.D. 1539. (Rev. 
J. A. Lloyd.) 


Corner Cupboard :— 

Finial from end of seat, the most eastern in the south aisle, found after the 
present poppy-heads had been affixed, 1895. Removed from the Church and 
sold with other oak at the restoration in 1856. (J/ohn Dean.) 

History of England, by Laurence Echard, M.A., Archdeacon of Stowe, 1718, 
containing an account of Charles the Second’s visit to Mere, 6th October, 1651, 
on his journey from Trent to Hele House. (Rev. W. Cheill.) 


On the Mantel-shelf :— 

An alabaster tablet, representing “The Adoration of the Magi.” This tablet 
was bought by Mr. Baker at the sale of the effects of the late Mrs. Mary 
Matthews, of Mere. She purchased it of a man named William Gray, who 
found it in digging some garden land under the Castle Hill. (Thomas H. 
Baker.) 


The Cupboards against the North Wall :— 


Books :— 

Salisbury Diocesan Gazette (1888-89), 1890-91, 1892-93. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Mere Union, financial statements with lists of guardians, officials, paupers, and 
other information, from 1863 to 1896. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 

“ Records of the Seasons,” 1882, collected by Thomas H. Baker. (Zhomas H, 
B aker.) 

“ David and Goliath,” 1833, by William Lander, Sen., of Mere. (Zhomas H. 
Baker.) 

“ Coke’s Reports,” 1658, containing the “Case of the Prince,” a lawsuit by 
Thomas Chafin, Esq,, against Lord Stourton, concerning 200 acres of land in 
Mere. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Lammas Tithes and Quit Rents, collector’s book, 1775 to 1779. From the late 
Mr. J. Phillip’s papers. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 

“How we kept the Jubilee in Mere,” 1887. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

“ My Voyage to Australia in ‘The Rome.’” «Thomas H. Baker.) 

The Jubilee of the Mere Temperance Society. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

British School of Mere, &c. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 


- 


By C. BE. Ponting, F.S.A. 63 


Sermons by the Rev. S. H. Gassan, A.M., Curate of Mere, Wilts. (Thomas H. 
Baker.) 

Mere Parish Magazine, 1882 to 1891. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

Times’ Telescope, 1815, 1816, 1818. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

“Find of Roman denarii in Mere Cemetery.” List of the coins and descrip- 
tion, by Rev. D. M. Clerk, Rector of Kingston Deverill. (Thomas H. 
Baker.) 

Mercurius Rusticus, 1685, and Mercurius Belgicus, 1685. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

Rood and other Screens in Devonshire Churches. Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

Cassan’s Lives of the Bishops of Sherborne and Salisbury, 1824; Cassan’s Lives 
of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, 1834; Cassan’s Lives of the Bishops of 
Winchester (two vols), 1827. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

A Brief Relation of the taking of Bridgewater, 1645. (NWote.—This was found 
in a cottage at Zeals by Rev. L. R. Henslow.) (Thomas H. Baker.) 
Drawings :— 

Water-colour drawing of Stavordale Priory, north side. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Ditto ditto interior. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Pen-and-ink sketch of interior of Chapel, 1786, by S. H. Grimm. (Zhomas H. 
Baker.) 

Sundries :— 

Two keys found in the old barn, formerly the residence of the Dean, when it was 

_ being pulled down. (Mrs. Ernest Baker.) 

_ Cornice ornament from the same place. (Mrs. Ernest Baker.) 

Stones found in piscina in North Chantry Chapel, 1895 :—No. 1, jamb of a recess 

coloured red and green; No. 2, bracket, probably from same recess, with the 
same colouring; No. 3, small piece of stone with black colour plastered on 
face; Nos. 4 and 5, two pieces of freestone tabernacle-work ; No. 6, small 
piece of tile ; No. 7, one tile found in disturbed wall where probably niche had 
been, some 4ft. eastward of piscina, forming one quarter of a complete design 
formed by four tiles. 

Copper spoon, found in a hole in a wall at Wolverton, together with a spur. 
(John Hooper.) 

Two keys of an old house at Mere. (John Hooper.) 

Earthenware lamp found when working near the foundations of Chantry, sup- 
posed to have been used by chantry priests. (John Hooper.) 

‘Cannon-ball from Wardour Castle, taken from Wardour by W. Wickham and 

presented by Lord Arundell, 1896. 


Photographs :— 

1, Zeals House, south-west. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

2. Zeals House. 

3. Mere Down Avenue. 

4. Stourton, old Bristol Cross before restoration. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

5. Old Bristol Cross after restoration, 1895. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

6. Ship Inn, Mere, 1885. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

7. Market Place, Mere, with old Market House, Angel Inn, &c., 1863. (Thomas 
H. Baker,) 

t 8. Market Place, Mere, with the new Angel Inn, &c., 1890. (Thomas H. Baker.) 


’ 
r 


Ps 


64 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


9. Castle Street, Mere, 1890. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 

10. Dean’s Orchard, Mere, 1886. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

11. Mere, from Castle Hill, 1886. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

12. Castle Hill, Mere, showing the old barn, formerly the residence of the Dean. 
(Thomas H. Baker.) 

13. Thatched Cottages, which stood on the site of the Grove Buildings, pulled 
down 1891. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

14, Woodlands Chapel. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 

15. Woodlands House, south view. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

16. Woodlands, over-mantel in room under the Chapel, with Dodington arms 
impaling Francis. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 

17. Mere Church, exterior, south-east view. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 


18. Ditto south porch. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

19. Ditto interior, nave, August, 1895. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 
20. Ditto interior, looking west, 1895. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 
21. Ditto interior, looking east, 1894. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 


Under the Cupboards :— 

Old vane from the tower, 1848. 

Piece of lead from the Castle at Mere, found in 1887, when excavating for the 
pole of the flag. 

Panel, carved oak, supposed to be from eastern parapet of screen. 

Two pieces of wood, probably lintels from some domestic building, found in the 
Still vault, when lowered and opened in 1892, supporting the flag-stone forming 
the entrance. 

Original stem and base of the font, Purbeck marble. 


Case on the Table :— 
Prints (purchased from Walter V. Daniell, said to be from the Col- 
lection of the late Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson) :— 
1. Bell-tower of Salisbury Cathedral. 
2. Fonthill Abbey. 
3. Fonthill redivivus, built by Beckford at a cost of £240,000, and pulled down 
by him shortly after and materials sold for £9000. 
. West Dean House, Wiltshire. 
. Kingston Deverill Church. 
. Chapel Plaister, parish of Box, Wilts. 
. Tottenham House, Wilts. 
. Pen-and-ink drawing of Woodlands House, Mere, by M. L. M., 1818. 
. Woodlands House, Mere. 
. Screen of Mere Church, 1832. 


CMON ae 


i 


Literature :— 

An Interpretation of the number 666, by Francis Potter, B.D., son of the Vicar 
of Mere, who was born in the Vicarage House there, on Trinity Sunday, 1594, 
(Thomas H. Baker.) 

Whitehall Evening Post, September 8th to 10th, 1726, containing account of a 
Mr. Guy, who was found lying dead on Mere Down. (Thomas H, Baker.) 

Letter from John Britton, the antiquary, to Mrs, Rumsey. (Mrs.Hrnest Baker.) 


. 


} By ©. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 65 


Sundries :— 

Oyster-shell, found September 3rd, 1895, in an old scaffold hole under the east 
window in the north chapel of the Church, left there by the workmen, circa 
1470. 

Three shells found under the font on its removal, April, 1896, to its original 
position under the tower, from west side of north door in north aisle, where 
it was placed in 1856. 

Bronze celt, found by the late Mr. Philip Crocker, agent to Sir R. C. Hoare, 
probably on the Wiltshire Downs. (Mrs. Ernest Baker.) 

Specimens of Selenite, found on “lynch” near the gas-house at Mere during 
excavations for the sewerage, 1879. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Piece of pottery from Cold Kitchen Hill. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Pyrites with piece of flint imbedded in it, found on Mere Down. (Thomas H. 
Baker.) 

Impression in wax of a seal found under the Castle Hill, at Mere—“ Sigillw : 
Johi . de: Orchard x 

EDW 


Tobacco-pipe saNnD found at Mere. (Thomas H. Baker.) 
ELL 


Coins, Tokens, &c. :— 

Carausius, third brass, reverse Pax, found near Edge Bridge, Mere, by Robert 
Welch, about 1890, when digging a post-hole. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 

_ Constantinus Magnus, third brass, struck at Treves, found on the arable land on 
the Manor Farm, Mere, about 1870, by John Hooper. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

AMimilia Gens, denarius found in the river at Wellhead, Mere, 1878, by John 
Gray. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Henry II., penny found by Frederick Hooper, in his garden at Mere. (Thomas 
H. Baker.) 

Valentinianus, denarius, reverse, urbs Roma. Struck in Aquitaine. (Rev J. A. 
Lloyd.) 

Roman, third brass, uncertain. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

William III., sixpence, found in churchyard. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

George III., farthing, 1799, found in churchyard. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

Seventeenth century tokens :— 

Bristol farthing, 1662, found in Knoll Path, Mere Down, by Samuel Dodington. 

_ (Thomas H. Baker.) 
Thomas Cutler, Junr., in Sarum, 1666. (Lhomas H. Baker.) 

William Roggers in Meere, 1666. (Mrs. Ernest Baker.) 

Thomas Gamblin in Meere 1665. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

Robert Harrison of Amsbury 1653. (Zhomas H. Baker.) 

For the Poore’s benefit. Help O. Andover 1666. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Stephen Brassier, Wilton in Wiltsheere 1667. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Farthing token of Charles I. Rose. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

Lead label, with merchants’ mark. (Thomas H. Baker.) 

-Nuremburg Token, Hans Winckell in Nur, reverse, GOTES . REICH . BLIB. (Rev. 

J. A. Lloyd.) 

Maundy threepenny-piece, Charles II., 1679. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVI. F 


66 The Parish Church of S. Michael, Mere. 


Token, 1566, found when the Market House at Mere was pulled down. (Thomas 
H. Baker.) 

William IIL, halfpenny. (Rev. J. A. Lloyd.) 

George III., halfpenny, found in the churchyard when levelling the earth on the 
south side of tower. (Rev. EH. Borradaile.) 

George IIL., Irish halfpenny, found same place. (Rev. HE. Borradaile.) 


H. 
The entries in the Churchwardens’ book relating to the organ are as follows : — 
“1556-7. Itm. for the mendynge of the organs with 
xxij‘. for a staple and for glewe for the same. viij® vj.” 
“Ttm to Jerarde for blowynge of the byllowes of 
the organs for the hole yere now endyd. viij4.” 
“1558. Itm payed to Jerarde the Bedeman for his wages 
for blowynge of the Organ byllowes for one yere. ij®-” 
“Ttm for a Rope for the Organ byllowes. ja.” 
1559. Itm. for paper to amend the organs. yd.?? 
“Ttm for a Corde for the organs. ja.” 
“Ttm for the glewynge of the Cappes of the organs. xijd.” 
“Ttm payed to Thomas Jerard the Bedeman for his 
wages for blowing of the organs for one yere. ij” 
“1562. Itm for amendyng of the organs. xiiijd- ” 
« Itm to Thomas Gerard the Bedeman for his wages 
for blowyng of the Organs thies yere. ij” 
“Ttem for glewynge of the Organs. viijd. ” 
“TItm for amendyng of the Keyes of the organs. vija- ” 
“Itm payed for a Key for the organ house. ija.” 


«1563. Itm payed to Thoms Jerarde the bedeman for his 
wages for blowynge of the organs for one hole yere 
endyd at the fease of the Annuncyacon of o'. lady 


last past. ij” 
Itm for a Corde for the organs. ja” 
“1565. Itm for mending of the bellowes of the organs. xiiijd-” 


“1568, Whereof the said Churchwardens have paied and 
Disbursed for Div’s repacons of the Church and of 


the Bells and Organs and other charges. xj. xvij’. xpi 
“1569. Itm paied unto Gerrett, for blowyng of the Organs 
for iij quarters. xviijd. ”” 


“TItm paied to Thomas Gerrett for blowyng of the 


organs. yj ” 


F 2 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 67 
“1575. Item for mending of the bellowes and the pentis 
of the organs. ixd.”” 
“1576. Allowed to the said Churchwardens for dyvers 
repacons of the Church and Bells and Orgaynes and 
other things as appeareth. xii, yijs  xjde” 
“1575. Item for the takeng downe of the organs. iijs- ijd-” 
“Item for Gerrard his worke, sheepskins and glue. iijs- iiijd-”” 
“Ttem for the Gyner’s worke. iiijs-”” 
“Ttem for one hundred and twentie foote of borde. vy” 
“Ttem for iiij peeses of square tymber. xxijd.”’ 
“Item paied to the Gyners for the tymber work 
about the organs. xs yj.” 
“Ttem for Clamps and nailes. viijd. ”” 
“Ttem for vj Sheepskins. is xd.” 
“Ttem for board nailes and sprig nayles. vj.” 
“Ttem for a pownd of Wyer. xvjt-”” 
“Item for a bushell of Charcole. ij.” 
“Ttem for the Organ maker's tooles and nailes. xxd.’? 
“Ttem for ij pound and a half of glue. xd. ”” 
“Ttem for the Organ maker’s boord. iijs-” 
“Ttem paied to the Organ maker for his work. xiiijs- ij. ”” 
“1578. Item for mending and keeping of the organs for 
two yeares ended at midsomer A° 1577. xs.” 
“1579. Paied for the repacons of the Church, the bells, 
the Leaddes and the Organs and other charges. vijli. xiiijs. ” 
“Ttem paied for a Sheepskin and glewe for the 
organs. " yj” 
“1580. Paied for the repacons of the Church the bells, 
the ledds and the organs &c. viiji. x8 ixd.” 
“Ttem paied for glewe for the Organs. ij@-” 
“Item paied for a Cord for the Organs. ja.” 
“Ttem paied to John Chappington for two yeares 
for the Organs. xs.” 
“ Ttem for an Iron for the organs. ja” 
“Ttem paid for the mending of the organs. viijd.” 
“1581. paied to Willm Bellie for blowing the billowes 
of the organs. ij.” 
1583. Item paied to Willm Bellie for the whole yeares 
wages for blowing the organs. is” 
“1584. For mending the organs.” 

“Item to Chaperton for mending the organs. xlvjs—-viij4”” 
“Ttem to a Carpenter for casing the billowes. xijd-” 
“Ttem for nayles about the same. ya. ? 
“Item to the Bedman for blowing the organs. ij.” 

“1586. Item paid to Goodden o'. Beadman for the 
blowing of the organs. ijs, vid.” 
“Ttem laied out to the Organ maker. vs”? 


68 The Parish Church of 8. Michael, Mere. 


“1587. Item paied to the Organ maker. 
“Item to Goodden for his wages to blow the billowes. 
“1591. paied to the Heller for mending of a plott over 
the yorgynes. 
“paied for taking upp of the orgynes. 
“paied to Robte Goodyng for his labour, 
“for wood at the same tyme. 
** paied to Hugh Trassey for making of a seate for 
the orgaynes. 
“paied to Robte fforward for making of ij straps 
of iron for the orgynes. 
“for nayles for the orgynes. 
“1592. paied to Robte Goodyng for bloying of y* orgynes, 


lL, 


Entries referring to the Church plate :— 


“1559. (No churchwardens this year.)’’ 

“ Inventory of Church Goods. Eleven silver spoons 
wherof one is broken ; a great crocke conteyning by 
estimacon 6 galons.” 

“1566. For Tynnen spoones and trenchers, and potts 
bought to th use of the Church. 

“1577. Paied for the lone of pewter vessel. 

1578. Item for v cruses for the Churchale. 

1579. The Chalis changed. Yo" Challis weyes xij oz. 
at ilijs- viij?- the oz. some is lvjs- of yours.” 

“The new Cupp weyes vij oz. and half at v® x4. 
the oz. the some xlviij® John Atkins resteth xis- iij4- 

“1580. Item for other cuppes. 

1580. Alsoe they are charged w xjs- i1j4- for the ovr 
plus w remaineth for the alteracon of the Chalosse 
for the Comunion cupp. 

“1584. (Inventory.) A comunion cup with a cover of 
silver. xi silver spuones with round knapps whereof 
one of them the knappis broken. ii greate brasen 
crocks. iiij** dosen of trenchers. iiij®’ stone cupes. 

“1594, For a dosen of cupps and fower dosen of spoones 
for the Church. 

“1601. (Inventory.) Eleven silver spoones, two crocks 
a comunion cup of silver and a silver plate. The 
eleven silver spoones doe way x oz. w after the rate 
of iv’ viij4 the oz. amounteth to xlvjs- viij4- and are 


” 


xs. ” 
ij®- ” 
xvjd. 
xviij4- 
ijd. 
ija. 
ij vja- 
ij2- 
yd. 
iy? ” 


vijs- 
xijd- 
xyd. 


viijd. 


xj 8, iij4- 


vj° 


” 


” 


By OC. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 69 


soe sold to John Coward uppon this daie w™ the 
consent of all the pishioners here psent.” 
“1618. (Inventory.) One sylver challice, one sylver 
plate, too pewter potts, too table clothes, a blewe carpet, 
a brass pott now in W™.Harding’s possession. Kewere 
George Abbotts brasse pott yf it be sold unto him 
because Willm Hardeing sayeth it was a pott be- 
longing to the pish.” 
“1632. ffor two new flagons waying xi} at 164 a pound. xvs.”? 


“The Accampte of suche ornaments and other goods of the Churche of the 
Parishe of Meere aforesaide As theise Accomptants have delyded over at 
this Accompte into the Chardge of John Ball als Rogers and Robert Pyttman 
Churchewardens Elected for this yere to come As ffolloweth. 

“Imprimis the Greate Churche Byble the service Booke Mr. Barrett 

Reades the prayer In, And ffower other olde Books of Comon Prayer. 

“Itm one other Booke intittuled the Booke of Buishopp Jewells Wourks 

and tyed w't a litle Iron Chayne in the Comunion Chauncell. 

“Ttm the Pulpytt Cloathe and Cushion and three other Chushions made of 

the olde Pulpitt Cloathe. 

“Tim one Greene Carpett of Broad cloathe Adged aboute w'* Greene silck 

ffrendge w°h serveth for the Comunion Table. 

“One old Blewe Carpett Cloathe Adged aboute wtt white and Blewe 

Woursted ffrendge. 

“One Comunion Table Cloathe of Dowlas. 

‘‘Twoo Surplices ffor the Dockter and his Curate. 

“The Comunion Table now in use. And one olde Comunion Table. 

“Tn the Comunion Chauncell one Cheste Twoo Coffers. 

“The Plate and flagons used at the Communion. 

“Ttm one olde auncient Litle silver Bool wt? a silver Cover plate on yt. 

“One silver Bool of the Guifte of James Alforde deceased as by the 

Booll will shewe. 

“Twoo greate flagons of Pewter both holdinge seaven quarts. 

“Twoo little flagens both holdinge aboute iij quarts. 

“Ttm in the lofte over the northe Ile one payre of olde decayed Organes 
wth xxxvi Orgayne Pypes of the greater sorte in them besides the three 
Pypes hereafter chardged, besides a quantitye of small pypes w°h were 
i not numbred and were in the pype case. 
| “In the Treasurye Lofte over the Northe Porche theise goods 
i “Three Great Pypes of the Organes. 

“One Barrell of Gunpowder weying ij° weighte. 

" “ More of Gunpowder of severall pounds made up in papers xiii)". 

| * More in that lofte Two olde Greate Chests. 

“More of Soader in one of those Coffers wh was the Remeynder of the 
Soader boughte this yere ix" and xix yards of matche. 

“Ttm ffyve Bells in good Repayre wth a Clock. 

“Ttm a small Bundell of lafts in the Southe lofte. 


70 Occurrence of the Cream-Coloured Courser in Wiits. 


“tm one Steele and Iron Cheesel w°h was made to use aboute the playn- 
inge of the stoones w°h paved the Churche. 
“Itm Lastely Two Beares to Carrye the Deade Boodyes Inn.” 


Kt. 


On the floor of the tower, eastward of the fount, is now placed a memorial stone 
of peculiar interest, with the following inscription commemorating a former 
vicar :— 

“ Depositum Gulielmi Bayly 
Vicari Mian. <)-)5i2 1s) ti in 
Ecclesia Mere Annos 46 
Qui Obiit Nono Novembris 
Anno Domini 1691.” 
Query—what are the missing words or word? Dr. Chafyn died in 1645 and 
Mr. Bayly in 1691—a space of forty-six years—but Mr. Bayly was not inducted 
until 1661, at the Restoration, so that he only served the office of Vicar for thirty 
years. It has been suggested that the words were “ Dfwnere Recti,’ which 
would imply that he was vicar by legal gift forty-six years, though his place 
was usurped for sixteen years during the time of the Commonwealth, 


[The illustrations of Mere Church accompanying this paper are from photos by 
the Rev. J. A. Lloyd, Vicar of Mere. | 


Occurrence of the Creamecoloued Courser 
° ie] * 
wm Wilts. 
OE so good as to place on record another occurrence of the 
ys Cream-coloured Courser (Cwisorius isabellinus) a very rare 
bird, within the limits of this county ; for a specimen was killed on 


the downs above Erlestoke, on October 10th, by Mr. George Bovill, 
within a very short distance of the spot where Mr. Langton killed 


Occurrence of the Cream-Coloured Courser in Wilts. 71 


another specimen, at Elston, near Tilshead, on October 2nd, 1855 
(see my Birds of Wilts, p.3874). Mr. Bovill kindly writes me word 
that the bird in question was running along the down when he first 
saw it, but rose on the wing as he approached, when he at once shot 
it. He describes it as appearing to be tired after a long flight, and 
indeed it is probable that it had been blown across the sea and over 
Salisbury Plain by some of the heavy gales which had been pre- 
vailing from the south-east for two days previously. 

There are two things which strike me as very remarkable in the 
occurrence of this straggler. In the first place it has appeared in 
almost exactly the same locality as its predecessor of forty years 
ago: and again it has arrived, as almost all of its fellows which 
have appeared from time to time in England have done (see 
Seebohm’s British Birds, vol. iii., pp. 63-4), in the month of October, 
when the equinoctial gales are prevalent from the west and south- 
west ; and yet the true home of the Cream-coloured Courser is the 
East and the South. 

Since the occurrence of our Wiltshire specimen I learn, on the 
authority of the very able editor of the Zoologist, that another 
Cream-coloured Courser was shot in Jersey, on October 19th, and 
Myr. Harting suggests that in all probability these two birds left 
their summer haunts in company, but encountering the south-western 
gales which lately prevailed, got blown out of their course and 
separated en route. 

The bird was exhibited at the Linnean Society’s Meeting on 
November 5th, by Mr. Harting, and notices of it appeared in the 
_ Atheneum, November 21st, 1896, and in the Zvologist, November, 
1896, p. 434. 

AtFrRED CHARLES SMITH. 

Old Park, Devizes, 

November 26th, 1896. 


Wilts Obituary. 


Rev. Robert Hawley Clutterbuck, F.S.A., Rector of Penton Mewsey, 
Hants. Died Aug. 29th, 1896, aged 59. Buried at Penton Mewsey. 
2nd son of Charles Clutterbuck, citizen of London, and Hannah, d. of 
John Kinlack, Esq. Born Jan. Ist, 1837. Educated at King’s College, 
London. Ordained deacon, 1862, by Bp. of Lichfield ; priest, 1864, by Bp. 
of London. Curate of Plaistow, Essex, 1864—66; St. Mark’s, Clerkenwell, 
1866—67; St. Philip’s, Clerkenwell, 1867—82; St. Antholin’s Lecturer 
at St. Mary, Aldermary, 1880—82 ; Rector of Knight’s Enham and Vicar 
of Smannell, Hants, 1882—1890; Rector of Penton Mewsey, 1890 until 
his death. A vice-president of both the Hampshire, and the Salisbury 
Field Clubs, Mr. Clutterbuck was widely known of late years—it is not 
too much to say as the antiquary—(“antiquary,” as distinguished from 
“archzologist ’’) of the Hampshire border and the Salisbury neighbourhood. 
He was a mine of information as to the medieval history of the neigh- 
bourhood in which he lived, his strength lying especially in the direction 
of ancient MSS. and documents and the power of conjuring up from 
the evidence to be found in them the details of the secular and re- 
ligious life of a locality during medieval times. In this branch of 
antiquarian study he had few equals in this part of England, and the 
counties of Hants and Wilts will together feel the loss of one whose 
place there are but too few capable of filling. He was well known as 
a lecturer—always an interesting lecturer—at the Blackmore Museum, 
Salisbury. He was a frequent contributor to the journals of the British 
Archzological Association, the Hampshire Field Club, and the Salisbury 
Field Club. He was the author of many antiquarian jottings appearing 
from time to time in the Salisbury Journal, as well as of many anti- 
quarian pamphlets :—‘ The Story of Wherwell Abbey,” “ The Black Book 
of Southampton,” “Some Recovered Memorials of the old Church at 
Andover,” “Collections Relating to the Family of Clutterbuck,” ‘“ Notes 
on Weyhill Fair,” &c.; whilst it will be remembered that he read an 
exceedingly valuable paper on “Salisbury Fraternities ” at the Salisbury 
Meeting of the Wilts Archzological Society in 1896. A notice in the 
Devizes Gazette, September 3rd, 1896, says :—“ A better man, a kinder 
friend, or one more earnest in his high calling we should never find were 
we to search the worldover.”” The Hampshire Chronicle speaks of him as 
“a4 model parish priest.—His death was somewhat remarkable, it is 
supposed that whilst on the lawn he was stung by an insect, blood- 
poisoning immediately ensuing and causing death.” Other obit. notices, 
Marlborough Times, Sept. 5th, 1896; Church Times and Guardian, 
Sept. 9th, 1896. 


Rev. John Dryden Hodgson. Died Aug. 19th, 1896, aged 74. Buried 
at Collingbourne Ducis. 2nd son of John Hodgson, Q.C., of Lincoln’s 


ee ee eee 


ae 


Wilts Obituary. 73 


Inn. B.A. Camb., 1844. M.A. 1847. Fellow of Peterhouse, 1844. 
Deacon, 1846. Priest (Rochester), 1847. Curate of Sawbridgeworth, 
1847—49; Gt. Baddow, Essex, 1849—51 ; Incumbent of East Grafton, 
Wilts, 1851—55 ; Vicar of Great Bedwyn, 1855—74; Rector of Col- 
lingbourne Ducis, 1875 until his death ; Canon or Prebendary of Sarum, 
1878, J.P. for Wilts. A scholar and an earnest parish priest, widely 
respected in the three Wiltshire parishes in which he spent forty-five 
years of his life. The nave of the Church of Collingbourne Ducis was 
restored in 1877 through his efforts, the chancel having been previously 
re-built. by his predecessor—Mr. Lukis. Obit. notices, Devizes Gazette, 
Aug. 27th; Salisbury Journal, Aug. 22nd ; Salisbury Diocesan Gazette, 
Sept., 1896. 


Rey. John Edward Wilson. Died Sept. 20th, 1896. Em. Col. Camb. B.A. 
1855; M.A., 1865; deacon, 1856; priest, 1857. Curate of Hunslet, 
Leeds, 1856—57; Rochdale, 1857—61; Holy Trinity, Knightsbridge, 
1861—67 and 1868—79; St. James’s, Marylebone, 1867—68; Head- 
master Chelsea Grammar School, 1871—83; Vicar of East Kennett, 
1884 until his death. 


Mrs. Gambier Parry. Died May 24th, 1896, aged 69. Daughter of Francis 
Lear, Dean of Salisbury. Born Oct. 28th, 1826. Married, 1851, Thomas 
Gambier Parry, of Highnam Court, Gloucester. An In memoriam notice 
in Gloucestershire Chronicle, reprinted in Guardian, June 3rd, 1896. 


Ven. Herbert Maundrell, first Archdeacon of Nagasaki and Southern 

Japan. Died Nov. 3rd, 1896, at Winchester, aged 57. Of a yeoman family 

well known in the Calne neighbourhood, he was educated at the C.M.S. 

College, Islington, 1860—63 ; ordained as Missionary of C.M.S. in Mauritius 
and Madagascar, 1863—73 ; after this for a short time Curate of St. John’s 
Chapel, Devonshire Hill, 1874; then went to Japan as C.M.S. Missionary 
and Chaplain of Nagasaki, 1875 ; Archdeacon of 8. Japan, 1886, Author 
and editor, Revision of Occasional Services and Ordinal of Malagasy 
Pr. Book, Mauritius, 1873, Kinsuto-Shogai-Reki-shi: or “ Life of 
Christ,” Nagasaki, 1884, and Sei Sho Ryakushi: or “ Epitome of Old 
Testament History” in Japanese. Obit. notices, Times, Nov. 5th; 
Standard, Nov. 6th, 1896. 


Alfred Blake. Born at Steeple Ashton, Aug. 10th, 1814. Occupied a farm 
in that neighbourhood until 1853, when he went to Chitterne All Saints, 
and retired from business in 1877, living at Codford St. Peter until his 
death. Widely known and much regretted in the Warminster district, 
where he had acted as Chairman of the Board of Guardians for more than 
twenty years. Obit. notice, Devizes Gazette, July 16th, 1896. 


Wadham Locke. Died May 22nd, 1896, aged 93. Buried at Seend. Eldest 
son of Wadham Locke, of Rowdeford House, M.P. for Devizes, 1832. He 
did not, however, inherit the Rowdeford property, which went to his younger 


brother. J.P. for Wilts for fifty-six years and high sheriff in 1847. Lived 
for some years at Seend Cleeve. Married, first (in 1828), Caroline, daughter 
of Henry Thompson, Esq., of Skelton, Yorks, by whom he had two children 
—a son deceased, and a daughter, Caroline Charlotte Elizabeth, married to 
Capt. Lamb in 1857. His second wife (1844) was Albinia, daughter of 
John Dalton, Esq., of Sleningford Hall, Yorks. By her he had seven sons 
and two daughters. Obit. notice and sketch of the Locke family in Devizes 


74 Wilts Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 
Gazette, June 11th, 1896. 
: 


GHilts Books, Pamphlets, Articdes, He. 


Jefferies’ Land: a History of Swindon and its Environs. By the 
late Richard Jefferies, edited with notes by Grace Toplis. 
With map and illustrations. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. ; 
Wells, Som.: Arthur Young. 1896. Pp. xvi., 207. Jefferies spent much 
time and labour in collecting the materials for this work, which appeared in 
instalments in the North Wilts Herald during 1867. Regarded from a 
literary. point of view, it cannot of course be compared with the works 
produced during its author’s maturity, while his lack of true antiquarian 
knowledge is too often evident ; but it forms a valuable supplement to what 
Mr. Morris and others bave told us of Swindon, and may fairly claim to take 
its place as a local book of reference. The district to which the editor has 
assigned the name of Jefferies’ Land, as shown in the accompanying map, 
extends, roughly speaking, from Cirencester to Marlborough in one direction, 
and from Malmesbury to Hungerford in the other. The scope of the work 
itself may best be shown by quoting the headings of the various chapters, 
which are as follows :—I., Ancient Swindon ; II., Holyrood Church ; III., 
Swindon in 1867; IV., Upper Upham; V., Liddington Wick; VI., The 
Marlborough Road; VII., The Devizes Road; VIII., The Oxford Road. 
The illustrations are from drawings by Miss Agnes Taylor, and comprise a 
column at Ivychurch ; Avebury Font; Jefferies’ House, Victoria Street, 
Swindon; Ruins of Holyrood Church; Reservoir, Coate; Wanborough 
Church ; Entrance to Swindon from Coate ; Marlborough Lane; Day House 
Farm, Coate; Chisledon Church ; Jefferies’ House, Coate ; and The West 
Window, Fairford. While the editor has wisely left the letterpress exactly 
as Jefferies wrote it, without attempting to correct it or bring it up to date, 
she has added many useful and interesting foot-notes. 

We observe that a reprint of the History of Malmesbury is announced 
as to follow. G.E.D. 


Wilts Books, Pamphiets, Articles, Sc. 75 


The Early Fiction of Richard Jefferies. Edited by Grace Toplis. 


With a rare portrait [aetat 22]. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. ; 
Wells: A. Young. 1896. Pp. xv., 210. This volume contains a short but 
interesting paper on Zvaits of the Olden Time, followed by four short 
melodramatic tales—A Strange Story; Henrique Beaumont ; Who will 
Win, or, American Adventure ; and Masked—all of which appeared in 
the North Wilts Herald during 1866. Of these there is little to be said. 
In the opening sentences of A Strange Story we seem for a moment to 
trace 'some foreshadowing of the author’s maturer style, but that is all. 
Regarded as stories, they are little better than burlesques, a boy’s crude 
work, showing in every page his utter ignorance of the scenes—social, naval, 
and military—which he was endeavouring to depict. But, as illustrating 
the earliest stage in the development of a great writer’s powers, they will be 
welcomed by all students of Jefferies. The editor’s preface is well put, and 
says all that need be said. In it she quotes two specimens of Jefferies’ verse 
—“To a Fashionable Bonnet,” and “The Battle of 1866,’—which have | 
been unearthed among the files of the Worth Wilts Herald. G.E.D. 


Leaves from the Journal of the Poor Wiltshire Vicar, being pp. 8—69 


of Hlementary German Exercises, by W. E. Mullins. 5th Edition. 
London: D. Nutt. 1894. This is an excellent but slightly abridged 
translation, arranged for school use, of a pathetic tale by the well-known 
German novelist, Heinrich Zschokke, who is said to have founded it upon a 
fugitive sketch that appeared in England about the middle of last century, 
from which Goldsmith drew some of his materials for the Vicar of Wake- 
field. This sketch is probably to be identified with the Week's Journal of 
a Wiltshire Curate, which was reprinted in The Crypt for 1829. A com- 
plete translation of Zschokke’s tale appeared in Zhe Gift, an American 
publication, in 1844, and was afterwards reprinted, somewhat revised, as 
the Journal of a Poor Vicar, in Vol. II. of Chambers’s Miscellany of 
Instructive and Entertaining Tracts. The scene is laid at Cricklade. 
during the winter of 1764-5, and the poor curate-in-charge, with his hard- 
earned stipend of £20 per annum, goes through many trials and sufferings 
during the few weeks that his diary covers. However, all ends well, and 
. goodness of heart and simple piety are suitably rewarded at the last. Many 
names of persons at Trowbridge, Cricklade, and Wootton Bassett are 
mentioned in the course of the narrative, but we are unable to say whether 
any of them can be identified. G.E.D. 


Wiltshire Notes and Queries, No. 14, June, 1896. A good number, 


The Annals of Purton are continued, with genealogical information as to 
Goddards and Reads—accompanied by a reduced form of the beautiful 
drawing of Restrop, which is given in Some Old Wiltshire Homes. 
Then follow seven pages of extracts from the Gentleman’s Magazine, 
showing the same amazing carelessness in the editor of 1758-9 as previous 
extracts have shown—Nutsley, Chaulkley, Borrington, Musselden, Abbots 
Loaders, Barton, Dub-Down, Secombe, Wimbleton Carey, Mudgeworth, 
Priors Hadden, are mysterious rectories and vicarages which certainly are 


76 Wilts Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 


not to be found in Wiltshire now. Wiltshire Tithe Cases and Wiltshire 
Wills are continued, as well as the records available for the History of 
Cholderton. Then comes a continuation of the notes on the family of 
Faweoner, of Salisbury, and various notes and queries, with afac-simile of 
a curious rough sketch map of Warminster parish in 1588, and a plate from 
a pen-and-ink sketch of a fine fireplace, with six heraldic coats on it, now in 
Box House, but said to have been brought from Ashwick, in Marshfield, Co. 
Gloucester. There is an interesting note, by Mr. Kite, on St. John a Gore 
and Gore Cross, the “Gare”? of Domesday, now a tithing of Market 
Lavington, recording the opening up of the foundations of the ancient 
“Chapel of Gore,” in 1877, which was found to have consisted of a simple 
nave and chancel of perhaps the thirteenth or fourteenth century. A note 
by Mr. Parsons on certain riotous proceedings in Wootton Bassett early in 
the century, and a few shorter notes, complete the number. 


Dio, No. 15, Sept., 1896. The continuation of the Annals of Purton is 
illustrated by a charming drawing of Church Farm and another of Purton 
House. The records available for the History of Cholderton, the List of 
Wiltshire Wills, and the extracts from the Gentleman's Magazine are 
continued. Then follow the beginning of a paper on Quakerism in Wilts, 
by Mr. Penney—Seend Briefs—Materials for the History of Braydon 
Forest—and an interesting note on Wiltshire Prisons, the number concluding 
with queries on various subjects. 


Warminster and Neighbourhood, Views of. B. W. Coates, Journal 
Office, Warminster, (1896). Oblong 16mo. Cloth. This very useful little 
souvenir of Warminster contains ten pages of letterpress, six of which deal 
with the Celtic and Roman remains around the town, two with “ Warminster 
of to-day,’’ and two are taken up with notes by Sir Arthur Blomfield on the 
architecture of the Parish Church. The information given in these pages is 
unusually accurate and well-chosen, and the process views which follow are 
most of them excellent :—General View of Warminster from the South ; 
Warminster Market Place, looking East ; Warminster Market Place, looking 
West ; Savings Bank, with the Fountain; Longleat House ; Longleat House, 
with Lake; Longleat House, from Heaven’s Gate; Sheerwater; The 
Minster, General View (Exterior); The Minster Nave (Interior) ; Christ 
Church ; St. John’s Church ; St. Laurence’s Chapel; The Cottage Hospital ; 
The Grammar School; 8. Boniface Missionary College; The Town Hall ; 
Common Close Chapel and Schools ; St, Monica School; St. Deny’s Home : 
Boys’ Orphanage; Girls’ Orphanage; Westbury White pagel Stourton 
Pleasure Gardens ; King Alfred's Tower, Stourton. 


George Herbert at Bemerton. A pleasant article by E. H. Fitchew in 
The Quiver, May, 1896, pp. 566—569, with good illustrations of Leighton 
Bromswold Church (restored by G. Herbert) ; George Herbert’s Medlar ; 
Bemerton Rectory ; and Bemerton Church and Rectory. 


George Herbert. One of a series of articles on “ The Handwriting of famous 
Divines,” Sunday at Home, May, 1896. 


Wilts Books, Pamphlets, Articles, §c. 77 


er — 
+ 
J 


George Herbert’s Church at Bemerton. The Salisbury Journal of Oct. 
17th, 1896, gives a very good account of this little Church, its history, and 
the works of repair which have this year been undertaken in it, further 


details being given in the issue of Oct. 24th, in the account of the re-opening 
of the building. 


se 


Wilts Visitation, 1565, Sowche of Pitton to Yerworth of Collingbourne 
Kingston, is continued in the July and October numbers of Vol. xiii. of the 
New Series of The Genealogist. The latter number also contains an article 
on the surname “ Le Poher’’ (Power, Poore). 


Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. At the meeting at Salisbury of the 
Society of Estate Clerks of Works, Mr. T. Potter read a discursive paper on 


the objects of interest in Salisbury and its neighbourhood, dwelling at length 
; on Stonehenge, and quoting with approval the opinion of a gentleman who 
1 believes “that the [sarsen] stones came from the North of Europe attached 
to or embedded in icebergs during the Glacial Period,” and that of another 
i “eminent archzxologist ” who accounts for the propinquity of the cursus to 


the barrows by the suggestion that the deceased persons’ effects were offered 
as prizes in the chariot races, probably on the day of the funeral! Itisa 
melancholy thing to find anyone who proposes to instruct his fellow-men 
capable of talking such an amount of nonsense on one subject. The 
article is printed at length in the Salisbury Journal, Aug. 22nd, 1896. 


Salisbury and its Cathedral. An article by Christopher Crayon (J. Ewings 
Ritchie)—reprinted in the Wiltshire County Mirror, Aug. 21st, 1896, 
from the Christian World of the week before—expresses the opinion that 
in “ Protestant countries the Cathedral is played out,” and that “ outside 
the Cathedral the one curiosity of Salisbury is the fourteenth century 
Poultry Cross.” 


The Organ of Salisbury Cathedral and the Organist, Mr. C. F. South. 
; F. J. W. Crowe, in the Musical. Courier, quoted by the Wilts County 
Mirror, July 3rd, 1896, has an article giving interesting information as to 
the past and present organs, and notes on the life and work of the organist. 


PAvebury. A Brief Account of its Stone Circles and Avenues, 
Artificial Mound called Silbury Hill, Ancient Church, and other 
points of Antiquarian interest. With Two Illustrations, from 
Photographs. By the Rev. W. H. Davis, B.A., Vicar of 
Avebury. Price Sixpence. Devizes: published by Hurry & 
Pearson, 1896. (8vo pamphlet of 10 pp.) This little pamphlet does 
not pretend to be anything but a very brief guide for the use of ‘the many 
visitors to Avebury who know nothing of the history of the place. The 
various points of interest mentioned in the title are touched on shortly and 
judiciously, the various theories as to the circles and Silbury are given as 
far as space will allow, and there is a most commendable absence of positive 
statements about matters of which nothing positive is known, together with 


78 Wiits Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 


a considerable amount of accurate information, both of which are rare in 
guide books of the kind. The photo-process plates, especially that showing 
the Saxon windows of the Church, are excellent. 


History of Tilshead Parish, Wilts, by the Rev. Horace Vincent 
Thompson. Reprinted from “ Zhe Bath Chronicle,” May 28th, 1896. 
Bath, 1896. A pamphlet, cr. 8vo, pp. 7. Price One Penny. The author 
assumes, on what grounds do not appear, that the ancient Borough of 
Tilshead is the survival of a Roman Municipium—though he does not say 
that any Roman remains have ever been found there. Coming to the 
Church, he tells us that the tower, “in the opinion of many visitors,” is 
raised upon British foundations—that the tower arches and pillars of the 
nave are Saxon—and that the chancel is interesting inasmuch as it is 
wider at the roof than at the base, said to have been thus built to represent 
the ark, but doubtless intended to teach “the openness of Heaven to receive 
the prayers and offerings of the saints ”!!! There is a list of vicars anda 
nice process view of the Church. 


Guide to St. Peter’s Church, Clyffe Pypard, by J. G. Wilson. 
Price 3d. 24mo. 1896. A little pamphlet of 7 pp., simply giving the 
facts as to the structure and contents of a Church which has now more 
visitors than most other country Churches in Wilts. One mistake is to be 
noticed : the monumental effigy now so grievously mutilated did not receive 
its injuries “during the restoration,” but some time early in the century. 


Excursion to Chippenham, Calne, Kellaways, and Corsham, Whit- 
suntide, 1896, by Rev. H. H. Winwood, F.G.S., and H. B. Woodward, F.G.S. 
Pamphlet, 8vo, pp. 339—354. Reprinted from “ Proceedings of the 
Geologists’ Association,” Vol. xiv., part 8, July, 1896. Many valuable 
geological notes on the district visited, Mr. Winwood’s account of the Box 
and Corsham Quarries being full of most interesting information as to the 
extent of the quarries, the manner of working the stone, the local terms 
used by the quarrymen, and other matters as to which information is not 
easily attainable elsewhere. 7 


Hungerford to Bath. Daily News, July 18th, quoted in Devizes Gazette, 
July 23rd, 1896. One of a series of articles on “Cycling Highways.” 


A Salisbury Housekeeping Account, 1748. Interesting extracts from 
an old account book, which belonged to a Mrs. Towsey, are given amongst 
the “Jottings on Local Antiquities” in Salisbury Journal, Aug. 8th, 1896. 


Trowbridge in 1820. A few recollections of the town in old days are printed 
in Devizes Gazette, Sept. 17th, 1896. 
Local Birds. An interesting leeture on local birds, more especially those of - 


the New Forest district, was given at the Blackmore Museum, Salisbury, by 
the Rev. J. Kelsall, and is reported in the Salisbury Journal, May 16th, 


1896. 
Weyhill Fair. Interesting descriptive article in Spectator, Oct, 24th, 1896. 


Wilts Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 79 


_ A Wiltshire Molecatcher. Article in Globe, May 30th, 1896. 


Groveley Wood is the scene of an article by Walter Bothams (of Salisbury), 
entitled “ At Home with the Pheasants,” in Sunday Mag., Oct., 1896, pp. 
679—682, with four illustrations, three of them from sketches by the author 
in Groveley—Headpiece (a scene in Groveley); Early Days; and Feeding- 
time. 


Malmesbury an Old English Town, by Henry Walker. A good article 
in Sunday at Home, Oct., 1896, pp. 773—778, with six woodcut illustrations 
by A. R. Quinton. Malmesbury Cross ; Abbey and Abbey House (2) ; 
St. John’s Arch ; Abbey Gate; Abbot’s Pew. 


_ Richard Jefferies. A chapter entitled “Afield with Jefferies” occurs in G. 
H. Ellwanger’s “ Idyllists of the Country Side”: also an article in The 
Clarion, quoted in Swindon Advertiser, July 18th, 1896, on “ Two Great 
Writers,” by “ Nunquam,’ comparing Jefferies with Stevenson, to the 
disadvantage of the latter. Temple Bar, Dec., 1896, has “A Study of 
Richard Jefferies,” by Charles Fisher,—and C. G. Freeman has an article 
in the Surbiton Times, June 18th, 1896, entitled ‘“ Richard Jefferies at 
Surbiton,” identifying the localities in “ Nature near London.” 


7 


Priaulx Pedigree, with illustrations, is commenced in Miscell. Genealog. & 
Herald., 3rd Series, Part III. , 


Tan Hill and the Downs on the north side of Pewsey Vale are the scene of 
a short article in the Sunday Mag, July, 1896, pp. 478-9, by the Rev. B. 
J. Johns, called “ The Hills in Summer.” Quoted in Devizes Gazette, July 
30th, 1896. ‘ 


Wilts and Dorset Bank. Article and sketch of the history of the Bank (by 
} R. Howarth), in Financial Post, quoted by Wilts County Mirror, June 
26th, 1896. 


Calne Bacon-curing Factories. A long illustrated article in the British 
Workman, quoted by Devizes Gazette, July 16th, 1896, tracing the growth 
of the business of the Harrises from its foundation in 1805 to the present 
day. 

Goddard Family. Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, Sept., 1896, 
pp. 125-6, gives a letter, dated Mar. 11th, 1684, from Thomas Goddard, of 
Swindon, to Bullen Reymes, Jun., of Whaddon, who was then stopping 
“att Mr. Edw? Goddards Goldsmith in the pav’d Alley over agst S"* Albanes 

Street in Pell-Mell, London.” 


Wilts Plant Names. A long list of names used at Cholderton. Monthly 
Packet, July, 1896. 


Aunt Meary’s Soup—a True Story. Wiltshire dialect story, by E. Slow, 
pp- 4, in Edward's Salisbury Almanack Compendium, 1897. 


4ongleat and Sheerwater. An article entitled “In Wiltshire Woods —May” 
in Devizes Gazette, June 11th, 1896. 


80 Wilts Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 


Cranborne Chase. An article by “a Lady Traveller,” in Daily Telegraph, 
Aug. 18th, 1896, describing Gen. Pitt Rivers’ Peasant Museum at Farnham, 


his experiments in the acclimatisation and crossing of animals, and King 
John’s House at Tollard. 


Fishing at Salisbury. Article by “ Heron,” in Fishing Gazette, Nov. 21st, 
1896, pp. 367-8. 


Mr. Bennet Stanford’s Coach through Downton and Salisbury is the 


subject of an article by a Lady Passenger in the Daily Telegraph, Aug. 
25th, 1896. 


The Badminton Pack, by Hon. F. Lawley. One of a series of articles in 
Daily Telegraph (reprinted in Devizes Gazette, Aug. 20th, 1896), on 
“ Historic Packs of Hounds.” 


Mummers. Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck discourses on Christmas Plays, and gives 
the words as used in Hampshire, with some variations in use at Cranborne, 
Dorset, in Salisbury Journal, July 4th, and Aug. Ist, 1896. Another 
note on same subject, Aug. 8th. 


Political Letters and Speeches of George XIIIth Earl of Pembroke 
and Montgomery, now first collected for private circulation— 
with Portraits. Two vols., cloth, 8vo. London: Richard Bentley & Son, 
1896. These two well-got-up volumes contain letters to the Times and 
speeches on various subjects by the late Lord Pembroke. The principal 
subjects dealt with are :—National Defence, the Navy and Volunteers— 
General Politics—Socialism, Liberty, and Property—The Land Question— 
The House of Lords —Ireland—also a number of letters to Wiltshire papers, 
and speeches delivered in Wiltshire. There are two good photo-process 
portraits of the late Earl. In a review of the book the Wilts County 
Mirror, June 6th, 1896, says :—‘ Never impassioned, never rhetorical, 
Lord Pembroke was not a speaker who could rouse an audience to en- 
thusiasm, but he was a speaker to be listened to with deep attention, who 
reasoned weightily and closely and made his hearers reason too. Perhaps 
his addresses had sometimes too much likeness to spoken essays . . 
they make excellent reading.” Notice, Daily Telegraph, Nov. 6th, anda 
long article entitled “A Lost Leader” in British Review, Nov. 7th, 1896. 


Rev. A. P. Morres. Amongst the Birds on the Farne Islands, May 
26th, 1896. Salisbury: Brown & Co. Price Sixpence. An 8v0 
pamphlet of 35 pp., describing a visit to the Farne Islands, off the coast of 
Northumberland, whereon twelve species of sea birds nest every year in 
countless thousands. Mr. Morres dwells on the scene with an enthusiasm 
which will make every bird-lover who reads his story long to be off next 
June to visit the Puffins, and the Guillemots and the Eiders on the “‘ Outer” 
and the “ Inner” Farnes. 


Rev. Henry Arnold Olivier. ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ made known 


through the Church, from Advent to Trinity, set forth in Verse. — 


: 


Wilts Books, Pamphiets, Articles, &c. 81 


London: Henry Frowde. Or. 8vo, cloth, pp. viii. and 120. A series of 
Devotional Meditations for the various Sundays and Holy Days, somewhat 
on the model of the “ Christian Year.” 


Rev. B. G. Johns, Rector of All Cannings. “Man or Monkey, 
from a common-sense point of view.’ Salisbury: Brown & Co. 
1896. Price ls. An 8vo pamphlet of 23 pp., in which the author claims 
“to-take a broad, fair look at the question [the theory of evolution] as it 
appears to an ordinary outsider of average intelligence.” It is written in a 

“ rather amusing way, though nothing new or specially convincing is adduced 

. 

‘ 

H 

‘ 


_ against the theory which is attacked. 


The Bishop of Salisbury. “A Gift of God: Memorial Sermon, 
preached in the Cathedral Church of Salisbury, on Sunday, 18th 
Oct., 1896 . . . . together with notes of an Address at 
the Re-opening of 8. Andrew’s Church, Bemerton.” Salisbury 
and London. 8vo pamphlet, pp. 19. This sermon, preached the Sunday 


after the death of Archbishop Benson, contains a review of his life, character, 
and work, by one who knew him well. 


Saint Nicholas’ Hospital, Salisbury. Forms of Admission and 
Special Prayers. Salisbury. 1896. 8vo pamphlet of 12 pp. (compiled 
by Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, Master). 


Rev. H. H. Mogg. Draft Scheme for the Organization of Mission Work in 
the Diocese of Salisbury: prepared by request for the consideration of the 
Diocesan Board of Missions. Pamphlet, 8vo. London. 1896. 


~ Emma Marie Caillard. The series of ten essays on “The Intellectual Position 
of Christians,’ in The Parents’ Review, concludes in the October number, 
1896. The same authoress has a series of six papers on “The Use of 
Science to Christians,” in Good Words, Jan., Feb., April, June, Aug., and 
Sept., 1896. 


Sir J. Dickson Poynder, Bart., M.P., in the S¢. James's Gazette, gives 
an account of an interview with the Japanese Premier, on the subject of the 
Rise of Japan. Reprinted in Devizes Gazette, Aug. 6th, 1896. 


The Duchess of Somerset, in Lady’s Realm, Nov., 1896. Article, with 
illustrations, on “ Consolations in a Garden.” 


Philpotts Williams, author of Poems in Pink, has published a second volume 
of forty-two poems, of which twenty are devoted to hunting subjects, en- 
titled “ Plain Poems.’ Salisbury: Brown & Co.; London: Simpkin, 
Marshall, & Co. Price 5s. Favourably reviewed in Salisbury Journal, 
June 27th, 1896. 


- Venus and Cupid, or a Trip from Mount Olympus to London. By 
4 Author of Dame Europa’s School. Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d. net. London: Dent 
_&Co. 1896. Reviewed very unfavourably in Atheneum, July 7th, 1896. 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVI. G 


82 Wilts Portraits, Pictures, &c. 


John I. Watts (of Whistley, Potterne), A Simple and Practical System of 
Marking Foreign and Colonial Produce (Meat, Cheese, Poultry, Eggs, &c.), 
with illustrations. Pamphlet, 8vo, pp. 32. 


Benjamin Tompkins (of Pipsmore Farm, Chippenham). The Theory of 
Water-Finding, with advice thereon, by a Professional. Cr. 8vo. Cloth. 
1892. Pp. 45, with appendix of viii. pages, and process portrait of the 
author. This little book, though it really tells us nothing whatever of the 
“theory” of the water-finder’s art, and is rather in the nature of an ad- 
vertisement, is for all that by no means uninteresting,—giving an account 
of the author’s discovery of the power he claims to possess in 1886, and of 
the extensive use which he has made of it in various parts of England since 
he began to practise professionally in 1890. If what he says as to the 
finding of gold and silver coins which had been hidden is accurately described, 
there seems no room for doubt that there is “ something in it.” 


PrersonaL NoriceEs :— 


Maj or-Gen. Lord Methuen. A character sketch from the Pall Mall 
Gazette is reprinted in Devizes Gazette, May 28th, 1896. 


The Hon. M. H. Herbert, C.B. The Westminster Gazette gave a sketch 
of his life and character. Reprinted in Wilts County Mirror, Oct. 2nd, 
1896. 


Duke of Beaufort. Article, with poor portrait, in Zit Bits, Nov. 21st, 1896. 


Duchess of Somerset. Notice of, by Mrs. Darling Baker, in Madame. 
Quoted by Devizes Gazette, Nov. 26th, 1896. 


My. HE. T. Hooley. A sketch of the career of the purchaser of Lord Ashburton’s 
Wiltshire estates, is given in Zhe Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic 
News, and quoted in Devizes Gazette, Aug. 20th, 1896. 


Henry Herbert Smith. Biographical notice in Biographia, Vol. I., part 2. 


William Seager. A veteran ringer of Calne, who rang at the Queen’s accession, 
and also at her jubilee, and is still living at more than 80 years of age. 
Notice in Bell News and Ringers’ Record. Quoted by Devizes Gazette, 
Sept. 10th, 1896. 


Wilts Portraits, Pictures, &c. 


The Royal Academy, 1896, contained the following :— 
The Rt. Hon. Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Bart., M.P. Portrait by H. T. Wells, 
R.A. 
The Rev. H. A. Olivier. Portrait by Herbert A. Olivier. 


Wilts Portraits, Pictures, Se. , 83 


Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke. Statuette by Paul R. Montford. 

Richard Walmsley, of Lucknam. Recumbent effigy by H. H. Armstead, R.A. 

Mr. H. A. Olivier also exhibited “ September, Upper Waters of the Medway,” 
“The Passion Flower,” and “ Hampshire Yew Trees.” 


Views in Wilts, Dorset, and Somerset :— . 
An Exhibition of Pictures at Dickinson & Foster’s, Bond Street, London. 
Noticed in Salisbury Journal, March 21st, 1896, included ;— 
Salisbury Cathedral. Large painting by Cyrus Johnson ; two drawings by 
A. W. Weedon ; and several views by F. Whitehead. 

Stonehenge. Views by F. Whitehead. 

Downs. (“Downs near Hanging Langford,” ‘‘ Beacon Hill, from near 
Vespasian’s Camp,” and “ Avebury.”) Views by F. Whitehead. 
Wayfarers, by Hugh Fisker, etc. 

Malmesbury Abbey, by Armstrong. 

Marlborough, College and Town, etc., drawings by F. Barraud. 

“ Queen Guinivere’s Bridge at Amesbury,” by F. W. Whitehead. 
Wishford and Steeple Langford, by ditto. 

Savernake, by ditto. 

Porch House at Potterne, by Hugh Fisher. 

Watery Harnham, by E. Young. 

Cottages in George Herbert’s Garden at Bemerton, by ditto. 

St, Ann’s Gate, Salisbury, by Perey Buckman. 


Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, Nov., 1896, “ Salisbury 
Plain,” by Albert Goodwin. 
Miss Sophia Beale’s water colours exhibited at Bournemouth, Feb. 22nd, 1896, 


included “The Italian Garden at Wilton House,” and “ Wilton Fair.” 
Noticed in Salisbury Journal, Feb. 15th, 1896. 


Canon the Hon. B. P. Bouverie exhibited, at the Town Hall, Devizes, 
Aug. 19—21, 1896, sixty-four sketches illustrating his yoyage round the 
world, with others from Cornwall and Norway. Noticed, Devizes Gazette, 


Aug. 20th, 1896. 
Henry Grant’s Portraits. Notice of some of these in Southend-on-Sea 
Observer. Quoted in Devizes Gazette, Oct. 31st, 1895. 
Bishop of Salisbury. Woodcut portrait, with notice, Church Monthly, 
Jan., 1897. 
Earl of Pembroke. Process portrait, Lady’s Pictorial, J uly 25th, 1896. 


Marchioness of Lansdowne and Lady Lucy Hicks-Beach. Process 
: portraits, Pearson's Mag., Aug., 1896. 
Duchess of Somerset. Process portrait in Lady's Realm, No. 1., Nov., 1896. 


dy “ Dorothy ” (Doreen) Long. Process portrait in Home Chat, Nov. 


7th, 1896. 
G2 


84 Additions to Library. 


Sir John Poynder Dickson-Poynder, Bart., M.P., and Miss Anne 
Beauclerk Dundas, 3rd daughter of Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Dundas, of 


Glenesk, N.B. Process portraits in Lady, Oct. 8th, and Gentlewoman, 
Oct. 10th, 1896. 


Capt. Gr wor: Prowse, eldest son of George Prowse, Esq., of St. Edith’s, 


Chippenham, and Miss Fanny Isabel Kelly. Process portraits, Lady’s 
Pictorial, June 27th, 1896. 


Capt. W. Wilson, R.N. Process portrait, S¢. James’ Budget, July 17th, 
1896. 


George Herbert at Bemerton. A re-production of the picture by W. 
Dyce, R.A., in Part 8 of “ England’s History.” Newnes. 1896. 


The Duke’s Vaunt Oak, Savernake Forest, is illustrated in a paper by 
G. Clinch, on “ Royal and Notable Oaks,” in Hnglish Illustrated Mag. 
for June, 1896. 


Hour-Glass at Compton Bassett Church. Woodcuts in Girls’ Own 


Paper, Sept., 1896, p. 717, in paper on hour-glasses by Sophia F. A. 
Caulfield. 


Potterne. The old font is well illustrated in two woodcuts, accompanying a 


short paper on “Inscribed Fonts,” by Emma Swann, F.S.A. Scot, in The 
Church Monthly, July, 1896, p. 160. 


Stanton Fitzwarren font is also illustrated and described in the same paper 


Salisbury Cathedral. Circular woodcut view from south-west in Church. 
Monthly, January, 1897. Also a full-page plate in Photograms of ’96, 
London, Dawbarn & Ward, 1896, of “ Salisbury Cathedral, S. E.Transept,” 
by C. F. Dickinson, a work which gained a medal at the S. London Ex- 
hibition. 

Stonehenge. A photo-process print of “ Cyclists at Stonehenge ” appears in 
The Hub for Sept. 26th, 1896. 


Additions to Library. 


Presented by Rev. E. H. Gopparp: One drawing of Corporation Plate and 
five of Church Plate. Guide to Clyffe Pypard Church. 
3 Tur AurHor: An Archeological Survey of the United Kingdom, 
by David Murray. 


Presented by Mr. R. B. Muntines: Framed portrait of Canon Jackson. 


Additions to Library. 85 


Tue Late Mr. EH. Wayzen: Three prints of Lacock, Malmesbury, 
and Wardour. 

Mr. A. ScHompBere: Joseph Alleine, his Life and Times—— 
Ashford, its Church, Vicars, College, and Grammar School. 

Messxs. Neviute, of Llanelly: Original Specifications for Engines 
for Devizes Waterworks. 

Mrs. Barnett: Poll Books, papers, &c., relating to Chippenham 
(from the late Mr. G. Noyes). 

Tur AvurHor: Views of Warminster and Neighbourhood, by 
B. W. Coates. 

Tae AvtHor: Memorial Sermon (on the late Archbishop), 
preached in Salisbury Cathedral, October 18th, 1896, by the 
Bishop of Salisbury. 

Tae Avurgaor: Christ made known through theChurch. Verses. 
By Rev. H. A. Olivier. 

Mr. W. Cunnineron: Geologists’ Association, Excursion to 
Chippenham, Calne, Kellaways, and Corsham. Pamphlet, 
1896. 

Dr. Prior: Prior’s Ancient Danish Ballads, three vols.—— 
Blackmore’s Creation. Blackmore’s Alfred, an Epick Poem. 
Blackmore’s Paraphrase on the Book of Job. Prior’s Notes 
on Croquet. Prior’s Popular Names of British Plants. A 
Journey through Spain in the years 1786 and 1787, by the Rev. 
J. Townsend (of Pewsey), three vols. Photo-portraits of Rev. 
J. Townsend, Mr. C. Broome, and Dr. Prior. 

Miss Cotsorne: Aubrey’s Letters, three vols. 
and the Britons. 

Me. H. E. Mepuicorr: Wilts Pamphlets, and Sale Catalogues 
of Donhead Hall, Tan House Farm, and Westwood Estates. 

Mr. A. D. W. Frencw: County Records of the Surnames of 
Francus, Franceis, French, in England, A.D. 1100—1350. 
Boston. 8vo. 1896. 

Mr. B. H. Cunnineton: Three Wilts Pamphlets.——Placard 
of Anti-Slavery Festival at Devizes, 1838.—— Ditto of Peace 
Rejoicings, 1856——and other papers. 

Tue AutHor: Man or Monkey, from a common-sense point of 
view. By Rev. B. G. Johns 

Tar AutHor: Avebury. A Brief Account of its Stone Circles 
and Avenues, Artificial Mound. called Silbury Hill, Ancient 
Church, &. By the Rev. W. H. Davis. 

Mr. C. W. Hoteate: St. Nicholas’ Hospital, Salisbury ; Forms 
of Admission and Special Prayers. 

Mr. H. N. Gopparp: Sale Catalogue of the Chilton Foliat 
Estate. 

Rev. C. V. Gopparp: Illustrated Guide to Stanton Drew. —— 
Catalogue du Musee Archéologique (Vannes). 

Rev. G. P. Toprin: Set of “ St. Osmund,’’ No. 1—5. 


Barry’s Cxesar 


86 Additions to Museum. 


Presented by Mr. G. HE. Dartneti: Amongst the Birds on the Farne Islands. 
By Rev. A. P. Morres. Life of Joseph Gwyer.-— Poems 
written by Stephen Duck. Newspaper cuttings. ——Journal 
of a Poor Wiltshire Vicar.—Aunt Meary’s Soup, by E. 
Slow. 

5 Mr. G. Rose: Casuistry, or One must Live, by Rev. R. R. 
Monteath, Vicar of Studley. 


3 Rev. E. E. Dortine: Original Drawing of Hertford arms in 
Salisbury Cathedral. 
“1 Rev. A. D. Hill: Original Drawing of Mizmaze near Downton. 


sy Tur AutHor: The Theory of Water-Finding ; by B. Tompkins. 


Additions to stuseum. 


Presented by Miss CoLBorNE: Encaustic Tile, from Malmesbury Abbey. 

Mr. Marrnews : Copper Tokens. 

Rev. C. V. Gopparp: Two Coins. 

Rey. E. H. Gopparp: Flint Scraper, from Barrow 42. 

Mr. H. N. Gopparp: Iron arrow or javelin head, fine amber 
bead and glass bead, of Saxon date (?), found in upper part of 
tumulus at the top of the hill above Thornhill Lane, Broad 
Town, 1834. 


Tokens, purchased : 
Williamson. Boyne. 
* 27 

Arms 
CHIPPENHAM . 1668.=s. E.G. 
Second examples of Edmund Hide and Richard Leader, Highworth ; and 
George Godfery, Sarum. 


SAMVELL . GAGE . OF=Tallow Chandlers’ | 7 


HURRY & PEARSON, Printers and Publishers, Devizes, 


if 


NOTES AND QUERIES ON WILTSHIRE 
MATTERS. 


The Editor will be glad to receive, for insertion in the Magazine, 


a 


any short Notes on Antiquarian, Genealogical, or Historical 
‘matters connected with the County, as well as Queries from 


persons desiring information on any such points. 


CHURCHYARD INSCRIPTIONS. 


The Rev. EK. H. Gopparp would be glad to hear from anyone who 
is willing to take the trouble of copying the whole of the in- 
scriptions on the tombstones in any churchyard, with a view to 
helping in the gradual collection of the tombstone inscriptions 
of the county. Up to the present, about thirty-five churches 
and churchyards have been completed or promised. 


WILTSHIRE PHOTOGRAPHS. 


The attention of Photographers, amateur and professional, is called 
to the Report on Photographic Surveys, drawn up by the 
Congress of Archeological Societies and issued with No. 84 
of the Magazine. The Committee regard as very desirable 
the acquisition of good photographs of objects of archzeological 
and architectural interest in the county, in which special at- 
tention is given to the accurate presentment of detail rather 
than to the general effect of the picture. The Secretaries would 
be glad to hear from anyone interested in photography who 
would be willing to help on the work by undertaking to photo- 
graph the objects of interest in their own immediate neighbour- 
hoods. The photographs should, as a rule, be not /ess than 
half-plate size, unmounted, and must be printed in permanent 
process. 


TO BE DISPOSED OF, a duplicate copy of each of the following 
books :—Hoare’s “ Ancient Wiltshire,” 2 vols., folio; ‘ Modern Wilts,” 
“Hundreds of Heytesbury’’ and “ Branch and Dole,” 2 vols., folio ; 
Canon Jackson's “History of Grittleton,” 4to; Aubrey’s “ Natural 
History of Wilts,” 4to; Smith's “Choir Gaur,” large paper 4to; also the 
first five vols. of “The Wilts Magazine,” containing all the rare numbers 
of that publication.—Apply to Mr. W. Cunnineton, 58, Acre Lane, 
London, S.W. 


THE BIRDS OF WILTSHIRE. One Volume, 8vo, 613 pp., Extra Cloth. 
By the Rev. A.C. Smith, M.A. Price reduced to 10s. 6d. 


rary 


ee 


st. 


Wiltshire Books wanted for the Library. E 


Will any Member give any of them? 
Political Letters and Speeches of Lord Kiot in the County of Wilts, 1739. 


Pembroke. Price. Series of Observations on the 
Hoare Family. Early History and Cathedral Church of Salisbury. 
Genealogy, &c., 1883. Addison (Joseph). Life and Works. 
Beckford. Recollections of, 1893. Life of John Tobin, by Miss Benger. 
Ditto Memoirs of, 1859. ' Gillman’s Devizes Register. 1859—69. 


Beckford Family. Reminiscences, 1887. R. Jefferies. Any of his Works. 
Lawrence, Sir T. Cabinet of Gems. Besant’s Eulogy of R. Jefferies. 
Sporting Incidents in the Life of Morris’ Marston and Stanton. 
another Tom Smith, M.F.H., 1867. Moore. Poetical Works. Memoirs. 
Marlborough College Natural History Mrs. Marshall. Under Salisbury Spire. 
Society. Report. 1881. Maskell’s Monumenta Ritualia. Sarum 
Lord Clarendon. History of the Use. 
Rebellion, Reign of Charles II., Armfield. Legend of Christian Art. 
Clarendon Gallery Characters,Claren- Salisbury Cathedral. 1869. 
don and Whitelocke compared, the Walton’s Lives. Hooker. Herbert. 
Clarendon Family vindicated, &c. Slow’s Wilts Rhymes, 2nd Series. 
Broad Chalke Registers. Moore, 1881. Register of S. Osmund. Rolls Series. 
Akerman’s Archzological Index. Marian Dark. Sonnets and Poems. 
Hobbes (T.). Leviathan. 1818. 
Oliver (Dr.G.). Collections illustrating Village Poems by J.C. B. Melksham, 
a History of Catholic Religion in 1825. ie 


Cornwall, Wilts, &c. Bowles. Poetical Works and Life, by 
Bishop Burnet. History of His Own Gilfillan. i 
Time. Collison’s Beauties of British Antiq- 
Ditto History of the Reformation. quity. 
Ditto Passages in Life of John, Bolingbroke, Lord. Life of, by Mac- 
Earl of Rochester knight. 
Warton (Rev. J.,of Salisbury). Poems, Massinger’s Plays, &c. 
1794. Guest’s Origines Celticz. 


Woollen Trade of Wilts, Gloucester, Stokes’ Wiltshire Kant. 
and Somerset, 1803. a: 
N.B.—Any Books, Pamphlets, &e, written by Natives of Wiltshire, or 

Residents in the County, on any subject, old Newspapers, Cuttings, Seraps, 

Election Placards, Squibs, &c., and any original Drawings or Prints of objects 

in the County, will also be acceptable. 


AGENTS 


FOR THE SALE OF THR 


WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE, 


RUN Sane. cs C. Hatrert, 8, Bridge Street. 7 
Bristol ess week. James Fawn & Sons, 18, Queen’s Road. 
Calae (20k: A. Hrata & Son, Market Place. 3 
Chippenham ...... R. F. Houston, High Street. 
Cirencester ...... A. T. Harmer, Market Place. 
Devise’ ccc .0cck. Hurry & Pearson, St. John Street. 
Mariborough...... Miss E. Lucy, High Street. 
ROPE scores x Jas. Parker & Co., Broad Street. 
Salisbury .......4. Brown & Co., Canal. 

_ Trowbridge ...... G. W. Ross, 66, Fore Street. 

~~ Warminster ...... B. W. Coates, Market Place. 


HURRY & PEARSON, MACHINE PRINTERS, DEVIZES. 


Vor. XXIX, 


WILTSHIRE 
Archeolayical aut Aotucal Bistory 


} MAGAZINE, 


i Published under the Pirectian 


OF THE 


SOCIETY FORMED IN THAT COUNTY, 


A.D. 1853. 


EDITED BY 
REY. E. H. GODDARD, Clyffe Vicarage, Wootton Bassett. 


DEVIZES : 


PRINTED AND SOLD FoR THE Socrety By Hurry & PEARSON, 
St. Jonn STREET. 


Price, 5s. 6d. Members, Gratis. 
ndix to Library Catalogue, No. IT., issued with this number. _ 


<¢ y aa 


Ce OS ROTIGH TO MEM EnEe oo oe 
TAKE NOTICE, that a copious Index for 


3 


‘ Vili., xvi., and xxiv. ; en 
Members who have not paid their Subscriptions to the Society for — 
the current year, are requested to remit the same forthwith to — 
the Financial Secretary, Mx. Davin Owen, 31, Long Street, 
Devizes, to whom also all communications as to the supply 
of Magazines should be addressed. 


The Numbers of this Magazine will be delivered gratis, as issued, 
to Members who are not in arrear of their Annual Subscrip- 
tions, but in accordance with Byelaw No. 8 “The Financial 
Secretary shall give notice to Members in arrear, and the 
Society’s publications will not be forwarded to Members whose 
Subscriptions shall remain unpaid after such notice.’ 


_ All other communications to be addressed to the Honorary Seere- 
taries: H. E. Meptacorr, Esa., Sandfield, Potterne, Devizes ; 
and the Rev. EK. H. Gopparp, Clyffe Vicarage, Wootton Bassett. 


A resolution has been passed by the Committee of the Society, 
“that it is highly desirable that every encouragement should 
be given towards obtaining second copies of Wiltshire Parish 
Registers.” 


THE SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS 


To BE OBTAINED OF Mra. D. Owen, 31, Lona Street, Devizes. 

THE BRITISH AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF THE NORTH 
WILTSHIRE DOWNS, by the Rev. A. C. SMITH, M.A. One Volume, 
Atlas 4to, 248 pp., 17 large Maps, and 110 Woodcuts, Extra Cloth. Price £2 2s. 
One copy offered to each Member of the Society, at £1 11s. 6d. 


THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF WILTSHIRE. One Volume, 8vo, 
504 pp., with map, Extra Cloth. By the Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A. Price to the 
Public, 16s.; but one copy offered to every Member of the Society at half-price. 


CATALOGUE or raz STOURHEAD COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES: 
In THE SOCIETY’S MUSEUM, with 175 illustrations. Price 2s. 6d. 


CATALOGUE or tHe SOCIETY'S LIBRARY ar tHe MUSEUM- a 
Price 3s. 6d ; to Members, 2s.6d. APPENDIX No. I. and IL., 3d. each. 


CATALOGUE or WILTSHIRE TRADE TOKENS 1n tHe SOCIETY'S 
COLLECTION. Price 6d. 
- BACK NUMBERS or tHe MAGAZINE. Price to the Public, 5s. 6d. aad 
3s. 6d. (except in the case of a few Numbers, the price of which is raised). 
Members are allowed a reduction of 25 per cent. from these prices. 


STONEHENGE AND ITS BARROWS, by W. Long. Nos. 46-7 of the — 
Magazine in separate wrapper, 7s. 6d. This still remains the best and mos 
reliable account of Stonehenge and its Earthworks. t. 


GUIDE To tHe STONES or STONEHENGE, with Map, by W. Cunnington, ‘fl 
F.G.S. Price 6d. 7 


fs WILTSHIRE—THE TOPOGRAPHICAL COLLECTIONS OF JOHN — 
- AUBREY, F.R.S., A.D., 1659-1670. Corrected and Enlarged by the Rev. Canon 
J. E. Jackson, M.A., F.8.A. In 4to, Cloth, pp. 491, with 46 plates. Price £2 10s. — 
INDEX OF ARCHAOLOGICAL PAPERS. The alphabetieal Index of — 
Papers published in 1891, 1892, 1893, and 1894, by the various Archzol f 
: “aud Antiquarian Societies throughout England, compiled under the direeti 
the Congress of Archeological Societies. Price 3d. each. q 


on \ co, ate te ee ae a : 


(hk Palit aie rag il 
NS ai! “i ie tbe 2) { " : 
rei a ‘art 2 a a 
‘43 tee 
URAY Pad 
THE 


WILTSHIRE 
Archeological ant Ratural AWiatory 
| MAGAZINE. 


a. LXXXVII. JUNE, 1897. Vou. XXITX. 

Contents, PAGE 

Account oF THE Forty-THiRD GENERAL MEETING, aT SALISBURY 87 
Tue Ancient Sup-CHantry Hovusk FORMERLY IN THE CLOSE, 

‘ POSTEO a! DY TLALUIN OY 0 ese uveaazdssavaenas isaseabatea~ acca) be gtdnets 95 
Sg Tus Mizmaze on Breamore Down, Hants, near Downton: by 

ae the Rev. A. D. Hill........... Seabee cajeen ts Te aa kes) = cee nse URNS 98 
Passages in THE HisToxy oF Downton, A.D. 1138—1380 ; chiefly 

___ from the Public Records: by Rev: J. K. Floyer, M.A., F.S.A.......... 102 
4 Nores oN THE HeRaLpry oF SaLtspuryY CATHEDRAL : by the Rev. 

EEC PUONIITOS oo alert, cou aes ccatse sens snc bmkisie sau dsvicdwigsd ues eemagscateaneecuenane 113 
CERTIFICATE OF THE Town GiLD oF Matmessury (Public Record 

 Office—Certificates, &c., of Guilds. Chancery No. 443.) ............... 122 
EVIL MAsKELYNE, D.D, F.R.S., AstronomER Roya: by T. 8S. 

Maskelyne ...... Pee rs ioe intpaidce sen, Faces seat Catces cmtnen seca te amine 126 
He FRATERNITIES OF Sarum: by the late Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, 

SR Be A Cat ciC ial coir aa eaie cd vain cds Page es aaplnsn bmaip weenlsract dal ok vala.rewve corey 137 

Wircnes’ Brooms: By C.R. Straton, F.E.S. .......cccceccccesceeseeeeeees 147 


XCAVATION OF A Roman WexLL NEAR Sitpury Hut, July and 
be 3 are: 1896: by J. W. Brooke and B. Howard Cunnington, F.S.A. 


166 
x Tae aes Hien Cross ar STOURHEAD, Wits : “by C.E. Ponting, 
Gy ol tha | TE A a sR ln Set tet te ey ca Rae a aed ie oy | Ad mae 127 171 
TT Te CTC SS Bie aie RRL ea =A a Onn eae NP BR or Anco ae ee 178 
ECENT Books, PAMPHLETS, ARTICLES, &C., ON WILTSHIRE MATTERS 198 
1LTs ESRI SS OURS RR Ca a ER ES 212 
BrP DONT USRU MY +5 5st. 0 tips Snaninks Seannalaucsasses «Peasieee snows vce omtidne 218 
MURR AS TOG TBRARY. tee metho. cairn cSehereusseseesiadciaveececvecdticgs 219 
SeconD REPORT ON THE TRANSCRIPTION AND PUBLICATION OF 
res Eee RH CELGIUES i ioe tas cianics oe Sais « Si ane debe a wip Qemedicwior’ oonew dea haw ure — 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Fourteenth Century Wall Decoration in the Hall of the 
‘Sub-Chantry House, Salisbury (destroyed 1849)...... 96 
Mizmaze on Breamore Down, Hants, near Downton ... 98 


Shield on the Hertford Monument in Salisbury Cathedral 118 
Map to illustrate the position of Wells, &c., near Silbury 166 
Bristol Cross, at Stourton, Wilts, 1896 ETO ea 171 
cape D MMeCRRTEY OF MULUD) de fecat Bewei ites saicucesescesvecesveveas 172 


DEVIZES :—Hourry & Pearson, 4, St. Jonn STREET. 


WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE. 


“ MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS.”—Ovid. 


JUNH, 1897. 


THE FORTY-THIRD GENERAL MEETING 
OF THE 
Wiltshire Archeological and Natural History Society, 
HELD AT SALISBURY, 
July 14th, 15th, and 16th, 1896. 


. Sir H. Bruce Mevux, Bart., President of the Society. 
| TUESDAY, JULY 141x. 


=2ZHE GENERAL ANNUAL MEETING of the Society, at which 

some twenty-five Members were present, was held at the 

Bicenty Hotel at 2.30, pm. Mr. C. Prenruppocxe took the 

| chair in the absence of the President, and called upon Mr. H. E. 
- Mepuicorr to read THE REPORT.’ In connection with a paragraph 
in the Report, a letter addressed to the Society, from the Society for 
_ the Protection of Ancient Buildings, urging a protest against the pro- 
i posed removal of the tower and nave of the old CHURCH OF LEIGH, 
in the north of the county, to a new site, was read by Toe Rev. 
‘2. H. Gopparp, who explained the circumstances under which 
this was proposed to be done. In the discussion which followed 
Messrs. Tarzor, Scnomperc, Bert, Mepzicorr, Gopparp, 
 Cotnourne, Arcupzacon Lexar, and others, took part, some 

_ defending the proposal to remove the Church as being a /esser evil 

- than allowing it to remain on its present site and go to ruin—as in 


‘ 1 Printed in the last number of the Magazine, December, 1896. 
| F- XXIX.—NO. LXXXVII. H 


q 
7 
me 


88 The Forty-Third General Meeting. 


all probability it would do speedily if a new Church were built in 
the village; whilst others maintained that, whether the Church was 
likely to go to ruin or not, if left alone, an Archeological Society 
such as our own should under no circumstances give its sanction to 
such a proposal as the removal of an old building and its re-building 
stone by stone on another site. In the face of this difference of 
opinion it was resolved that our Society should not commit itself 
to one side or the other, and that an answer in this sense should be 
returned to the letter of the Society for the Protection of Ancient 
Buildings. 

The next business was the proposed sale of a number of FOSSILS 
belonging to the Society which have no connection with the county, 
and which there has never been room to exhibit at the Museum. 
This proposal, brought forward by Tue Rev. E. H. Gopparp and 
seconded by Mr. A. B. Fisuer, was carried unanimously—and 
the officers of the Society having been formally re-elected, the 
Members adjourned, some twenty-five of them joining the excursion 
to Longford, whilst the remainder stayed in Salisbury itself. A 
three miles dusty drive brought the party to LONGFORD CASTLE, 
kindly thrown open to them by Lorp -Rapwnor, though, as the 
number present was too large to be taken round the castle at once, 
there was but too little time for the enjoyment of the many notable 
pictures by Holbein, Vandyke, Claude, Quintin Matsys, Mabuse, — 
Gainsborough, and Reynolds, and the fine specimens of furniture 
with which the house is filled. The grand Holbein portrait of 
Erasmus, and the marvellous steel chair, of German work, probably 
unrivalled in its way, among a multitude of good things, stand 
out perhaps pre-eminently. 

Returning to Salisbury, the Members made their way to THE 
PALACE, where Tue Bisuor kindly received them at tea in Bishop 

-Poore’s thirteenth century undercroft, and afterwards showed them 
over the other parts of the interesting old house. Though perhaps 
not unknown to many of the Members, the quite unrivalled view 
of the Cathedral and the spire from the palace gardens is a sight 
not to be forgotten—the most beautiful thing, indeed, to be seen 
in the City of Salisbury. It is worth noting here, too, that the 


» 


Wednesday, July 15th. 89 


long-continued drought had mapped out the foundations of the 
west and part of the south walls of the old BELL TOWER in the » 
Close, with their buttresses, almost as clearly on the turf as they 

- could have been drawn on paper. 

The ANNUAL DINNER took place at the County Hotel—where 
also the evening CONVERSAZIONE was held at 8.30, p.m., some 
forty-five members being present. At this meeting Tux Bisvor 
took the chair—Mr. Tauzor taking his place when he was obliged 
to leave later on in the evening. The first paper was a valuable 
and suggestive one by Tue Rev. R. H. Ciurrersuck, on 
“SALISBURY CONFRATERNITIES,” a subject which he had made 
his own. This was followed by a selection of music most kindly 
provided by Canon Carpenter, Miss Husszy, and other ladies ; 
_ after which a paper, or rather address, by Mr. Doran Wess, 
giving a short sketch of the history, and a lucid account of the 
principal features, of ROMSEY ABBEY, to be visited on the morrow, 

brought the evening’s proceedings to a close. 


WEDNESDAY, JULY 1éru. 


_ The party, leaving Salisbury by the 9.15 train, got out at DEAN, 
and proceeded to the fine old red brick BARN, with its curious 
buttresses on the south side, probably of very late fifteenth century 
-date—originally the tithe barn of Mottisfont Abbey, but afterwards 
used as a “Deer Barn,” in which the deer of the forest were shut 
up or fed when necessary. Above the barn, embowered most 
picturesquely in trees, stands what remains of the OLD CHURCH 
OF WEST DEAN, consisting of the south aisle or chantry chapel, 
now retained as a mortuary chapel—the body of the Church having 
been pulled down in 1868, when the new Church was built. The 
windows of this little building are of fourteenth century date— 
those on the north side having been built in within the arches by 
which the aisle joined the Church. It contains three or four large 
monuments of the seventeenth century Evelyns—two of the later 
ones most curiously enclosed with folding iron doors or shutters— 
whilst a small brass commemorates George, son of John Evelyn, 
he author of Sywa. The old house of the Evelyns has disappeared, 
H 2 


90 The Forty-Third General Meeting. 


the terraces and walks alone remaining to mark its site. TH Vicar 
(the Rev. E. Wells) acted as cicerone to the party, pointing out 
three piscine in the new Church, as well as an Early English 
column with sculptured cap, now serving as a reading-desk, and 
several good thirteenth century tiles let in to the wall at the back 
of the. piscinee—all of which came from the Church destroyed in 
1868. A stone coffin in the mortuary chapel and a stone with I N 
on it, in the new Church, were ported out as having come from 
the Church destroyed in the seventeenth century. Having seen 
the Churches, some of the party accompanied the Vicar to the 
vicarage, where a large COLLECTION OF ROMAN POTTERY (much 
of it New Forest Ware), iron objects (including a good many 
sandal cleats), glass fragments, &c., from the Roman villa excavated 
some years ago between the station and the vicarage, is preserved. 

Entering the train again for a few minutes, and getting out at 
Dunbridge, the party walked a mile or so to MOTTISFONT, where 
Mr. Doran Wess pointed out the most notable features in the 
CHURCH—the Norman chancel arch—Renaissance monument of 
the Sandys family in the chancel—and the considerable remains of 
good old glass in the heads of the windows of the chancel, as well 
the figures in the four upper lights and quatrefoil of the east 
window—the remainder of the window being good modern glass 
designed to match the old. Crossing the road the Members found 
themselves in the gardens of MOTTISFONT ABBEY, which, with the 
house itself, were thrown open to them by the kindness of Mr. 
D. MeinertzHacen. The house itself is featureless, though it 
stands on the site of the abbey, and portions of the buildings are 
incorporated in the modern walls; they are only to be seen, how- 
ever, in the thirteenth century undercroft, now forming the cellars, 
and in the kitchens. Preserved here are several remarkable 
specimens of Church needlework, the most notable being a portion 
of a chasuble of English work of the fifteenth century, in good 
condition, having upon it the crucifix with the figure of the Father 
above, and four separate figures of saints. There is also a very 
curious representation of the Last Supper—the disciples reclining 
at the table, which is said to have been the antependium for the 


Wednesday, July 15th. 91 
altar in the chapel at the “ Vine,” the seat of Lord Sandys; against 
this, however, is the fact that the work is more than 4ft. deep, and 
so could not have been an altar-frontal. Possibly it was a hanging. 
It has rather a late look about it, and is extremely quaint in design. 
Mr. Doran Wess gave an interesting sketch of the history of the 
abbey, interspersing it with lively anecdotes, as his manner is; and 
the Members then strolled about the lawns, bordered by the 
clearest of streams and shaded by splendid trees, one of which was 
acknowledged by everyone to be by far the most magnificent Plane 
_ that they had ever seen. Among the many charms of this most 

delightful garden, in which even the flower beds are admirably 

placed, not the least is the deep chalk spring, clear as crystal and 
cool as ice, that wells up in the lawn close to the house. A short 
walk across the meadows of the Test brought the party to Mottisfont 
Station—whence they took train for ROMSEY, where lunch awaited 
them at the White Horse Hotel. Several Members of the Dorset 
Field Club had joined the party during the morning, and the total 
number present at lunch was thirty-two. 

The afternoon was spent in the ABBEY, and proved none too 
long for the proper understanding and enjoyment of that noble 
building. There is very much to see, and the party saw it well— 
under the efficient guidance first of Mr. Doran Wezp and after- 
wards of Tue Vicar, the Rev. J. J. Cooke Yarborough. The 
remarkable Norman crucifix (for pace Mr. Doran Webb on this 
point—crucifix in most people’s opinion it certainly is) outside the 
south door; the even more remarkable and less known pre-Norman 
crucifix in low flat relief, with two soldiers with spear and sponge 
beside the cross and two angels perched on the arms of the cross, 
found built up in the wall and now placed over the altar in the south 
aisle of the choir; and the curious arrangement by which the nave 
of the Parish Church (now destroyed) was tacked on to the north 
side of the abbey nave, having the north transept of the abbey for 
its chancel; are amongst the points of greatest interest—but the 
whole building, standing as it does as one of the grandest examples 
Norman architecture in England, is indeed full of points of 
nterest and of beauty. By five o’clock, however, the party were 


92 The Forty-Third General Meeting. 


quite ready to do justice to the tea most thoughtfully provided for 
them by Tue Vicar—and after thanking him heartily for his 
kindness, proceeded to the station, and reached Salisbury at 6.20, 
after as thoroughly enjoyable a day as has ever fallen to the lot of 
the Society. Both the arrangements and the weather were perfect, 
for whilst the one allowed of ample time to see all that that there 
was to see at each place visited, the other took the form of a bright 
sun and a pleasant air, with an entire absence of the sweltering 
heat which had been so prevalent for some time before. 

The EVENING CONVERSAZIONE, held at the County Hotel at 8.30, 
was but sparsely attended. The first paper, by Dr. C. R. Srraton, 
was an interesting one on “ Witches’ Brooms,” which led to a 
discussion in which Tur Cuarrman, Tue Bisuor or SAuissury, 
and others took part. After this paper the Members were once 
more indebted to the kindness of some of the Salisbury ladies for 
a musical interlude; which was followed by a paper on “The 
Heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral,” by Tur Rev. E. E. Dorie; 
and this, again, by a paper by Mr. C. E. Pontine, F.S.A., on 
Mere Church, part of which—for time did not allow of the reading 
of the whole of it—was read by Toe Rev. E. H. Gopparp in the 
the author’s absence. All these papers will be found printed in the 
Magazine. 


THURSDAY, JULY 16ru. 


The weather was cool and overcast—just the weather, indeed, 
for a long drive—as the party, numbering about thirty-five, leaving 
Salisbury at 10 o’clock and journeying by rail on the South Western 
line as far as SEMLEY, met their carriages there, and proceeded to 
drive to MERE. About two-and-a-half miles short of that place, 
however, a mishap occurred, which threw out the arrangements 
somewhat, and caused considerable delay. The axle of one of the 
carriages broke, and the occupants had to turn out and walk most 
of the way to Mere. On the way WOODLANDS HOUSE was visited, 
with its very complete fourteenth century chapel (turned into a 
living room and adorned with a fine fireplace early in the seven- 
teenth century) and its later hall and porch. This remarkable 


Thursday, July 16th. 93 


building was saved from practical destruction some twelve years 
ago by the efforts of the Rev. HE. G. Wyld (then Vicar of Mere) 
and Mr. C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. A Manchester surveyor had 
actually prepared a specification providing for various alterations, 
such as “Take out old stone windows and insert new ones with 
deal frames 5 X 3, with oak sills, &c.” ! This was, however, 
happily set aside through the efforts of the gentlemen named above, 
and the chapel retains the fine tracery of its windows to this day. 
From this point a, walk across the fields brought the party to 
MERE CHURCH, where Tue Vicar, the Rev. J. A. Lloyd, had 
been for some time waiting for them. He described shortly the 
chief features of the Church—the magnificent rood-screen, the 
sereen on the south and north sides of the chancel, the curious 
bridge (lately restored) by which access is supposed to have been 
gained to the rood-loft, the Jacobean seats, the two fine brasses, 
and many other objects of interest which the short time at the 
disposal of the company (owing to the breakdown already men- 
tioned) made it impossible to inspect with the attention that they 
deserved. ‘The utilization of the chamber over the north porch as 
a museum for the preservation of objects of interest connected with 
_ the Church and town is an admirable idea. Amongst the most 
interesting objects here exhibited are the remarkable church- 
wardens’ accounts and an alabaster slab sculptured with the 
adoration of the Magi—found on the site of the castle. 

Leaving this interesting Church all too soon and driving under 
the grand ironwork sign of the Ship Inn, the party proceeded to 
STOURTON, where the BRISTOL CROSS was first inspected, Tux 
_ Rev. E. H. Gopparp reading some notes upon it prepared by 
Mr. OC. E. Ponrine, F.S.A., under whose direction it has been 
lately repaired and restored at the expense of Sir Henry Hoare. 
The company were unanimously of opinion that the way in which 
this work had been carried out reflected the greatest credit upon 
owner and architect alike. 

A move was then made to the adjacent “Stourton Arms” for 
luncheon, after which Mr. W. Hewarp Bet expressed the 
thanks of the Society to Sir Henry Hoare for the kindness with 


94 The Forty-Third General Meeting. 


which he had come to the rescue with a carriage after the breakdown 
in the morning, and for his permission to visit the grounds and 
mansion of Stourhead. 

The CHURCH having been first inspected, Sir Henry anp 
Lavy Hoare then accompanied the party by the walks winding 
round the lake to the “PANTHEON,” and so up the hill to the 
house. This walk was certainly one of the greatest treats of the 
year’s excursions. The ever-changing views of the lake and its 
islands, and the steep and varied slopes on either side, covered to 
the water’s edge with magnificent trees, make a picture whose 
loveliness—in its own way—is certainly not to be matched in 
Wiltshire, and probably in but few places in England, whilst the 
constant succession of fine specimens of rare conifers planted beside 
the walks are in themselves a feast to those happy persons who have 
the love of trees in their hearts. By the time the party had arrived 
at the HOUSE there remained but a few minutes in which to look 
at the pictures, the portrait of Sir R. Colt Hoare, and the Memling 
triptych, and to do hasty justice to the “light refreshments ” kindly 
provided by Sir Henry Hoare, before the Secretary’s horn once 
more called the party to the carriages, which were waiting for them 
at this point. Passing through KILMINGTON there was just time 
to jump out and look at the interesting tower of the Church (the 
only point of interest about the building), in which the Hartgills 
took refuge from Lord Stourton, before proceeding on down the 
break-neck hill by the private road through the woods to WITHAM. 
Here the very remarkable vaulted and apsidal Norman Church of 
the Carthusians, with its old work successfully scraped and scarified 
out of all semblance of antiquity, was inspected, and the party 
returned to the station to await the 5.36 train, by which they were 
to be dispersed to their respective homes. So ended the Meeting 
of 1896, with its varied and delightful programme—the pictures of 
LONGFORD, the gardens of MOTTISFONT, ROMSEY ABBEY, and 
the grounds of STOURHEAD, all seen to the best advantage under 
the admirable guidance and arrangements of Mr. Doran Wess, 
to whom the Society owes a debt of enduring gratitude for the 
labour and trouble he expended so ungrudgingly on the organization 


The Ancient Sub-Chantry House. 95 


of the Meeting and excursions. It cannot be said, however, that 
his efforts were seconded by the inhabitants of the capital of 
Wiltshire as a whole, with any perceptible warmth, and the result 
from a financial point of view was distinctly disappointing, and so 
far from the Cathedral Spire Fund benefitting, as it was hoped and 
expected that it might, from the balance of the Meeting, the Society 
found itself in a position which it had not occupied for many years 
—with a small deficit to make up after the expenses of the Meeting 
had been met. 


The Ancient Sub-Chantrey House formerly in 
| Ghe Close, Salishurp. 


HE premises in the Close, now occupied as the Salisbury 
Diocesan Training College, besides the more extensive 


. range of buildings known as the King’s House, also includes the 


site of an old house called the Sub-Chantry, it having formerly 
been appropriated as the residence of the sub-chanter or succentor 
of the Cathedral, which office is now held by the Rev. 8. M. Lakin. 
The Sub-Chantry House was situated between the King’s House 
and the Deanery, and like them it stood back a considerable distance 
from the road, having an open space before it, the greater part of 
which was many years ago added to the grounds of the Deanery. 
In 1849 the trustees of the Training College acquired possession 
of the King’s House and premises, as well as those of the Sub- 
Chantry, which included a garden extending to the river, when the 


. 


96 The Ancient Sub-Chantry House, 


plans of the late Mr. T. H. Wyatt for the adaptation and enlarge- 
ment of the buildings to the requirements of the college were carried 
out by the late Mr. F. R. Fisher. This involved the removal of 
the old Sub-Chantry House to make room for a new building upon 
its site; it was accordingly pulled down with the exception of the 
north wall, which was left to form part of the boundary wall next 
the Deanery garden. 

Before it was taken down there was little in the exterior of the 
building except the nail-studded door and pointed arch of the 
entrance to mark its early origin; many alterations and additions, 
some of them of the sixteenth century, having been made to it; 
while the interior had been divided into three storeys and many 
rooms, so that no part of the original building was visible, but as 
the work of demolition advanced and the paper and canvas, lath 
and plaster, floors and partitions of later times were removed, the 
skeleton of a fourteenth century structure of great interest, and of 
some importance was laid bare. The principal part of the building 
consisted of a hall running north and south, 38ft. long by 143ft 
wide internally, having massive walls of flint with dressings of 
Chilmark stone, and open to the roof, which was of oak and divided 
into bays by principals and curved braces forming a series of lofty 
pointed arches; the purlins were moulded and wind-braced, some 
of the braces being simply curved and the rest foliated. The 
splayed openings of the original windows still existed in the east 
wall, but the stone mullions and tracery had been swept away to 
make room for sash frames. ‘There was an ample fireplace on the 
west side of the hall, and two doorways immediately opposite in the 
east and west walls, the former still retaining its pointed arch. 
Some remains of a massive oak screen or partition were found in 
the hall, which might have divided it into two apartments, but the 
original building had been so much altered that it was impossible 
to verify this conjecture. 

The decoration on the walls could be distinctly traced upon three 
sides of the hall. The designs on the north and west walls appeared 
to be heraldic in character. The ground of the north wall was 
white and diapered with squares coloured gules and each charged 


FOURTEENTH CENTURY WALL DECORATION IN THE HALL OF THE 
SUB-CHANTRY HOUSE, SALISBURY (DESTROYED 1849). 


Sormerly in the Close, Salisbury. 97 


with a lion passant gardant argent; between the squares were 
birds azure, beaked and legged gules; the whole forming a pleasing 
diagonal pattern. The west wall was coloured as the field gules, 
and the whole surface covered with lions statant gardant, argent. 
The south wall was decorated with a kind of trellis pattern formed 
into oblong divisions by vertical and horizontal red lines, at each 
crossing of them was a calyx of four small black leaves; from each 
alternate one issued to the right and to the left a black stem with 
a flower of five red petals and white centre, so that there was a 
flower in each compartment of the trellis. No decorations were 
traceable on the east wall. Many fragments of ancient floor tiles 
were found among the débris of the building. 

The remaining part of the Sub-Chantry house was of later and 
various dates, and contained but little of interest. 

The foregoing account is compiled by me from notes which I 
made at the time of the demolition, I being then employed by Mr. 
Fisher, the clerk of the works, to superintend the alterations. 

The accompanying illustration of the wall-decorations is made 
from tracings taken by me, now in the Society’s Library at Devizes. 


The following extract from the late Canon Jones’ “ Fasti 
Keclesize Sarisberiensis,”’ p. 272, relates to this house :— 


“It was at an early period that the office of Succentor was endowed with the 
Rectory of Ebbesbourne Wake. A house also was assigned to the Succentor 
August 27th, 1440. It was conveyed to William Berwyk, then Succentor, and 
his successors, subject to the payment of certain ‘obits,’ and is described as a 
house within the close, ‘ opposite the western entrance to the Cathedral, situated 
between the house of the chaplains of the chantry of Lord Hungerford on one 
side, and a small house near the house of the Dean on the other side.’ ” 


98 


Che ALismaze on Breamore Down, Hants, 
neat Aowwnton. 


By the Rev. A. D. Hut. 


=GHE “mizmaze” in the parish of Breamore, Hants, is an 

' excellent example of the turf-/abyrinths of which some 
twenty still remain in various parts of England, while records of 
others that have disappeared show that they must have been more 
numerous in former days. As far as I know they have not been 
observed out of Great Britain. 

The mizmaze occupies a level area on a conspicuous wooded knoll 
which forms the southern end of a spur of chalk downs stretching 
from Salisbury Plain along the western bank of the Avon. A 
portion of a low circular bank and ditch is to be seen at the bottom 
of the steeper southern slope of the knoll, which may be a British 
defensive work; Whitsbury Castle-ditches occupy the summit of 
the next hill eastwards; a short distance to the north is Gallows 
Hill, at an angle of Grim’s-ditch ; and several barrows occur in the 
neighbourhood, a small one lying a few feet south-east of the 
circumference of the mizmaze. 

Hoare thus briefly refers to it in Ancient Wilts, vol.i., p. 213 :— 

« ~~. | on Wick Down, where there is one of those relicks of antiquity 
called a maze. It has the appearance of a low barrow surrounded by circles 


within circles. I have been informed by a friend well versed in antiquities that 
these mazes are to be found in various parts of our island.” 


It is not, however, a barrow, but on the natural level of the 
ground. The labyrinth is circular in form, and 87ft. in diameter. 
Its path is arranged in eleven concentric rings, each 3ft. in width, 
leading eventually—after thirty-four windings—into a central area 
18ft. across, in the middle of which a small mound rises about Lift. 
above the ground-level. The path is of turf, the outer edge of 
which is raised a few inches, while the inner side slopes downwards 
towards the little trench which separates it from the circlenext within. 


; 
| 
| 
| 
| 


100 


SSS _Z<D)/J‘[iL:i((K Dy 


MIZMAZE ON BREAMORE DOWN, HANTS, 
NEAR DOWNTON. 


Sa 
. 


j i . 
The Mizmaze on Breamore Down, near Downton. 99 


It can be readily understood that, in the midst of such surround- 
ings, and in so remote a situation, a very primitive date might at 
first sight be ascribed to this work. From early times the stories 
of labyrinths, such as that of Dzedalus in Crete, with the legend of 
_ Theseus and Minotaur, have exercised their fascination. The 
mystery they suggested and the symbolism of which they were 
capable, have been adapted to many purposes: and we find almost 
continuous traces of their influence, in the recreations of the people 
and the pleasure-grounds of the wealthy, from the days of the 
glowing tales of Herodotus to those of the formal labyrinths of - 
clipped yew introduced into English gardens after the Renaissance. 

A Memoir of Ancient and Medieval Labyrinths, by the Rev. E. 
Trollope, F.S.A., in The Archeological Journal, 1858, vol. xv., 
_ p. 216, though it does not describe the Breamore labyrinth, provides 
us with a key to its interpretation, and gives a valuable summary 
of what is known on the subject, to which I am indebted for the 
following facts. The labyrinth appears in conventional form on 
Cretan coins, as a symbol: on Greek and Roman gems, and as an 
architectural design on mosaic pavements at Pompeii and elsewhere. 
Before the ninth century it is appropriated as an ornament for the 
dress of emperors, signifying the inscrutableness of the counsels of 
princes as well as the divinity that “doth hedge a king.” Then, 
adopted as an ecclesiastical symbol, it acquires a new significance, 
that of the safety of the Church in the midst of the tortuous ways 
of the world. When pilgrimages to favourite shrines took the 
place of the more arduous journeys to Jerusalem of the Crusaders’ 
days, and occasions were not wanting when even these easier vows 
were unfulfilled by the devotee, a new meaning was found for the 
ecclesiastical labyrinth, and a new name given to it, /e chemin de 
Jerusalem, symbolical of the difficulties of the road to the literal as 
well as to the heavenly Jerusalem. It may, also, have represented 
the “ Way to Calvary.” It is accordingly suggested that the large 
labyrinths on the pavements of foreign Churches were used as a 
means of fulfilling neglected vows of pilgrimage, as well as for 
other purposes of penance and acts of devotion. 

Many instances of labyrinths occur in Italian and French 


100 The Mizmaze on Breamore Down, near Downton. 


Churches, chiefly from the twelfth century and onwards. Of those 
recorded by Mr. Trollope I will mention one incised upon a porch 
pier at Lucca Cathedral, 20in. in diameter; a square one formerly 
existing in the pavement of the Abbey Church of St. Bertin at 
Saint Omer; an octagonal one 34ft. in diameter in the entrance to 
the Parish Church (twelfth century) of St. Quentin; and a circular 
one in the nave floor of Chartres Cathedral, of grey and white 
marble, 30ft. in diameter, its path being 668ft. in length, and with its 
outer and inner circles richly ornamented with escallops and cusping.} 

In England no such architectural examples are known,? but 
similar designs are to be seen in the labyrinths cut in the turf at 
many places, and variously named “ Troy Town,” Julian’s Bower,”’ 
“ Mizmaze,” etc. ‘Though some of these may have had their origin 
in popular games, yet many bear a remarkable family likeness to 
the Italian and French pavements; and the circular mizmaze on 
Breamore Down is in fact an exact reproduction of the design at 
Lucca, at Chartres, and (except that it is circular instead of 
octagonal) at St. Quentin. A maze at Alkborough, Lincolnshire, 
is also identical in plan, but about half the size of that at Breamore. 
The only evidence of the existence of a labyrinth in Wilts, of which 
I am aware, is “The Mizmaze Wood” at West Ashton. There is, 
however, no trace of a labyrinth there now, and the only ex- 
planation that the oldest inhabitant can give of the name is that 
the field is a rough one, and “all of a mizmaze.” ® 

This striking resemblance, together with the fact of the proximity 
of most of these turf-labyrinths to a Church or religious house, 
seems to indicate the ecclesiastical origin of at least the greater 


1 The Italian labyrinths are described by M. Durand in Didron’s Annales 
Archéol., vol. xvii., p.119; and the French labyrinths by Wallett, “ Description 
d’ un Pavé mosaique a St. Omer,” Douai, 1843, p. 97. 

2 In the modern pavement of the west bay of the nave of Ely Cathedral, there 
is a labyrinth 20ft. square, perhaps copied from a foreign example. 

3 The name is now generally applied to a field, but in an old survey “ Mizmaze 
Wood” is described as part of a larger wood called ‘‘ Lion Ball Wood,” and the 
two are mentioned together in the tithe map of 1840. Canon Jackson suggests 
that it was a maze in the grounds of a house belonging to the Beach family 
formerly standing here. Wilts Arch. Mayg., vol. xiii., p. 331; Aubrey’s Coll., 
p. 354. 


By the Rev. A. D. Hiil. 101 


number of them, and a date probably of the fourteenth or fifteenth 
centuries. Some member of the community had, perhaps, been 
familiar with the chemins de Jerusalem abroad, and imitated them, 
with no little mathematical skill and accuracy, on the downs or 
commons around his English home, for devotions or penances, or 
even the innocent recreation of his brethren. 

In the instance before us we have a corroboration of this theory 
of the ecclesiastical origin of the turf-labyrinth. The maze is 
situated at the extreme edge of the downs, where they are bordered 
by the Breamore woods, and is just within the boundaries of the 
parish and lands formerly belonging to the Benedictine Priory of 
Breamore, founded by Baldwin de Redvers in the reign of Henry I. 
The priory was in connection with the Abbey of Reading, and 
contained a prior and nine canons at the time of its dissolution. 
At the foot of the knoll, across the ditch and bank previously 
noticed, the commencement of an ancient track is marked by the 
remains of a yew avenue. It points southwards through the wood 
in the direction of the Church, little over a mile away, and of the 
site of the priory on the right bank of the Avon, and indicates a 
road by which its occupants might gain ca to their labyrinth 
within the limits of an easy walk. 

The mizmaze has probably been renewed at some comparatively 
recent date, as the pathway is distinctly marked and the area free 
from brushwood. Doubtless many similar relics, as well as another 
class of turf-circles made for the recreations of the country folk 
have disappeared beneath the plough, and from natural causes. In 
a few instances, however, local interest has attached a value to them, 
as in the case of a square labyrinth near the site of an ancient 
chapel on St. Catherine’s Hill, Winchester, dear to Wykehamists, 
which has twice been renewed during the present century by the 
authorities of Winchester College ; and a circular maze at Asenby, 
Yorkshire, which was, and is, I hope, still preserved at the expense 
of the parish of Topcliffe, in which it is situated. The wider 
interest taken in archeology at the present day, and a right 
understanding of the historical relics around us, will tend to their 
better preservation for the future. 


102 


Passages in the History of Botonton, 
AOS 1135-1380. 
Chielly from the Public Records. 


By Rev. J. K. Fuover, M.A., F.S.A. 


entries in the Manorial Court Rolls of that place, that 
there was in former times a castle of King John existing there, and 
some topographical writers have supposed that the ‘ Moot ”—a 
British and Saxon earthwork of considerable extent—was the site 
of it. The tradition, however, is really a confusion of two facts : 
first, that there was a castle here; and secondly, that King John 
stayed in it. It was built in 1138 by Henry de Blois, Bishop of 
Winchester, the lord of the manor. This appears from the following 
entry :— 


A.D. 1138. “Hoc anno fecit Henricus episcopus aedificare domum quasi 
palatinum cum turri fortissima in Wintonia: castellum de Merdona et de 
Fernham et de Wautham et de Duntona et de Tautona.”’ } 


ey TRADITION exists in Downton, based, it may be, on some 


The erection of these castles was probably to assist in the es- 
tablishment of order in the troublous days of Stephen, Bishop 
Henry de Blois being his brother. 

There are now no architectural remains whatever of it except such 
portions of the stonework as may be worked into the construction 
of other buildings, and two crowned wooden heads, one of aman, — 
the other of a woman, now on the front of the “‘ White Horse Inn,” 
which are said to have been brought from it. Tradition ascribes 
the first to King John, but his beard is a good deal longer, and the 
side locks less conspicuous, than in the nearly contemporary effigy 
on his tomb in Worcester Cathedral. Britton, writing in 1801, 
states that the date 1225 was on the niche, but, if so, it could only 


1 Annales Monastici Winton, 


Passages in the History of Downton. 103 


have been placed there at the time of their removal, perhaps early 
in the eighteenth century, and would rather show that the head 
was at that time thought to represent Henry III., but it bears no 
more resemblance to the latter’s effigy at Gloucester than to that of 
John at Worcester.! The niche is surmounted by the initials J.R. 
Britton? also states that “ part of the walls”’ of the castle or “ Old 
Court,” “were standing within the memory of some of the old 
inhabitants,” and that it was situated behind the mills. The site 
may also be roughly indicated by a field, still called ‘“ Castle 
Meadow,” on the left bank of the Avon, below the “ Moot,” and in 
the course of some excavations made on the site by Gen. Pitt- 
Rivers and Mr. E. P. Squarey foundations were discovered. The 
architecture of the Churches suggests that the western end of the 
present Church of Downton, and the existing chapel at Nunton, 
and possibly other Churches at Standlynch and elsewhere, were 
either built very soon after the castle, or, in the hands of a pro- 
gressive architect like Bishop Blois, might have been built at the 
same time.° 

For some time after this Downton, or “‘ Dunton,” as it was then 
commonly spelt, does not appear in the public records except for 
four entries in the Pipe Rolls. In 1160 ten marks were paid for a 
“murdrum”’ and the pardon given to the Bishop of Winchester. 
A “murdrum” was in all cases a secret murder, and if the town 
was too poor to pay the fine, it was assessed, as in this case, on 
the whole hundred. The law was originally passed for the pro- 
tection of the king’s Norman subjects, and if the victim were an 
Englishman the fine was generally remitted.+ 

In 1167 and 1168 payments are again made for “murdrum”’ 
from the hundred, and in the latter year, and also in the next year, 
_“ Osbertus prepositus de Dunton ” makes payments to the Exchequer 
—one as a pledge for a robber being brought to justice. Osbert 


1 The Rev. A. D. Hill, who examined the niche about 1885, says that the date 
was legible then as 1207. 
? Beauties of Wiltshire, 1801. 
’ The writer is confirmed in this opinion by Mr. C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 
‘ Introd. to Pipe Rolls. 
‘VOL. XXIX,—NO, LXXXVII. ; I 


4 


104 Passages in the History of Downton. 


was the bishop’s bailiff, an officer not necessarily identical with the 
“alderman” in later times called “ mayor,” the latter being repre- 
sentative by election of the people of the borough. The bishop’s 
bailiff, however, was the officer for the return of burgesses to 
Parliament, and in later times we find this duty in the hands of 
the “mayor.” In Hoare’s History of Wiltshire, the first visit of 
King John is recorded to have been made on January 2nd, 1206. 
On the 7th February in the same year the King wrote to the 
Bishop of Bath from Lexington, saying that he is sending to 
him, among other things, six palfreys and two grooms (garcones) 
which are at Downton.! Of the two other visits mentioned in 
Hoare’s history, there is additional proof of one, and mention of 
another, making four in all. The second, then, was on January 
30th, 1207,? and the third, about the beginning of July, 1209,3 
when the King left Odiham on a Wednesday, arrived at Clarendon 
on the following Saturday, and the next day stayed at Downton 
on the way through Gillingham, Wells, Bristol, &c., to the north. 
Three payments are made during his stay at Downton two 
through the Bishop of Winchester, whose guest he was, and who 
seems to have accompanied him through the greater part of this 
journey. Another visit was made on the 19th of August, 1215, 
that is, a few months after the sealing of Magna Charta. On the 
above date he wrote, at Downton, a letter to Hugh Mortimer ; 
and on the following day three others, to Geoffrey Luttrell, to the 
Justiciary of Ireland, and to Geoffrey de Mar respectively. 

In order to account for these visits of King John, which may 
have been made much more frequently than these records show, it 
will be well to recall shortly the circumstances of the time. 

Peter des Roches, or de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, and 
hence the owner of the castle at Downton, was one of the most 
devoted of King John’s adherents, and in the time of his successor, 


1 Rot. Lit. Claus. 
2 Hoare’s Wilts. 
3 7.¢., the first Monday after the festival of SS. Peter and Paul. 
+ Rot. de Liberate, Misis et Praestitis. 
> Rot, Lit. Patentium, 1215. Government Ed. 


By the Rev. J. K. Floyer, M.A., FSA. 105 


Henry III., became one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. 
It will be remembered that the year 1208 was one of those in which 
England was under the interdict of Pope Innocent II1., and Peter 
des Roches was the only bishop remaining in England.' In the 
following year, 1209, he was sent by King John to meet Arch- 
bishop Langton, whose appointment by the Pope had been the cause 
of the trouble. In the year after, 1210, he helped the king to 
lead an army into Wales, at the time when John was under sentence 
of excommunication. In 1213 Peter des Roches was made Chief 
Justiciary, and held this office when King John was his guest at 
Downton on the last recorded occasion. It is probable that the 
castle obtained its importance from these circumstances, which 
ceased to exist on the death of Des Roches in 1238. 

So far as has been ascertained there is no trace of its occupation 
after the death of John, and on the abandonment of Clarendon as 
a royal residence, the castle at Downton was most likely not kept 
in repair and gradually decayed. 

There is no truth, however, in the tradition that it was ever a 
king’s castle. At an inquisition held at Salisbury in 1274 it was 
declared by the jurors that the king had no rights whatever in the 
manor of Downton, that the bishops of Winchester had always held 
it, and as far back as the time of Bishop Peter the bishops had 
held also the rights of chase in three lordships in the hundred of 
Downton,? and moreover, that these rights had been sometimes 
invaded by the county forestarius. The bishops’ right of chase is 
further illustrated by a notice in 1288, in which year a commission 
of oyer and terminer was issued “ touching the persons who broke 
the park of John, Bishop of Winchester, at Downton, hunted 
therein, and carried away deer.” ° 

The period we have been considering was a time of lax discipline 
and morals, both among clergy and laity, broken here and there 


by reformers such as Bishop Grosteste, of Lincoln, and Archbishop 


Peccham. In 1284 the latter made a visitation for purposes of 


1 Annals of Dunstable. 
2 Rot. Hund., Ed. I. 
3 Patent Rolls. 


12 


106 Passages in the History of Downton. ; 


reform into Dorsetshire and Wiltshire, where he was told that one 
Sir Osburn Giffard had carried off two nuns from the monastery of 
Wilton. Sir Osburn was excommunicated and made to perform 
severe penance, of which one of the least rigorous parts was that 
he was to be stripped to the waist on three following Sundays in 
Wilton Parish Church and beaten with rods.! 

The next few notices of Downton are chiefly concerned with the 
holders of the benefice, of whom a list is given below; but there 
is a curious instance of the disputes between the Pope, the King, 
and the lawful patrons—the Bishops of Winchester—as to the 
rights of patronage, in the presentation of William Burnell. 

In 1290 Pope Nicholas IV., then at Orvieto, issued an Indulgence 
to William “ Burnell,’ who, being aged 21, had already, at the 
request of Odo de Grandison, received a papal dispensation to retain 
the Provostship of Wells, the Rectory of Westerham, Canonries 
and Prebends of Lichfield, Salisbury, Llandaff, St. David’s, and S. 
Omer. A further licence was given to him by this Indulgence to 
accept the Church of Downton, on his resignation of Westerham, and 
to retain also a Canonry and Prebend of York.? This appointment to 
Downton seems to have been disputed by the authorities in England 
on the technical ground of the invalidity of the papal document 
because the name of the beneficiary was spelt “ Brunell,” instead of 
“ Burnell,” and his age had been stated as twenty-two, instead of 
twenty-one, in the quotation of the former dispensation. In the 
following March, therefore, the Pope wrote again to confirm the 
Indulgence, notwithstanding these mistakes, and further allowed 
that Burnell might hold the Rectory of Downton for five years 
without residing or being ordained priest, while engaged in his 
studies.2 In 1292 William Burnell was elected Dean of Wells, but 
retained the Rectory of Downton by dispensation from Robert 
Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, probably a near relative. The 
Bishop of Winchester, however, on the ground that Burnell’s 


1 Collier’s Eccl. Hist. 
2 Papal Letters. 
3 Papal Letters. 


ees 


ale 


By the Rev. J. K. Floyer, M.A., F.S.A. 107 


acceptance of the Deanery made Downton ipso facto vacant, tried 
to assert his right of patronage and presented one of his own clergy, 

Robert de Maydenstane. William Burnell, on this, began a law- 
suit with Maydenstane, and finding that by his acceptance of the 
Deanery he had violated the constitutions of Gregory X., he 
resigned the latter in 1295, and in 1303 obtained a letter from 
Pope Boniface VIII. to be again collated to Downton; Robert de 
Maydenstane in consequence retiring to his rectories of “Mulchil- 
mere” and “ Adurbiri,” the latter in the Diocese of Lincoln. It 
is not to be assumed that among these ‘non-resident “ parsons” the 
cure of souls was necessarily neglected. The papal indulgences some- 
times stipulated that it should not be so, and, in providing a benefice 
for a given person, often mentioned whether it was to be with, or 
without, cure of souls. The “ parson,” or “rector,” } probably held 
much the same position as a lay rector now, that is to say, one who 
receives a portion of the tithe, but is not necessarily responsible 
for the cure of souls. 

Harewedon is the first presentation mentioned in the episcopal 
register of Winchester,? and he is entered as the successor of 
Burnell, from which it would appear that Maydenstane’s law-suit 
was unsuccessful. Harewedon held also the Rectory of Thyngden, 
was one of the King’s justices, and an attorney, in which capacity 
he obtained, at various times, legal acknowledgments of debts. 
William de Honingham, who is next mentioned, as “ parson,” 
may have been vicar under Harewedon, for the latter is mentioned 
again as “parson ”’ of Downton in 1317. 

_ Robert de Sandale may also have been vicar under Charlton, 
for both presentations are recorded in the same year. 

Thomas de Chorleton, or Charlton, D.C.L., held, besides the rectory 
of Downton, Canonries and Prebends of York, Salisbury, Lichfield, 
and London. In 1320 he obtained from Pope John XXII. the 
reservation of the next vacant benefice in the Salisbury diocese. In 
October, 1327, he was consecrated Bishop of Hereford, being then 


*The word “parson” is used in the English records, “rector” in the papal 
- letters. 


? The writer is indebted to the Rey. F.T. Madge, Minor Canon, for the search. 


108 Passages in the History of Downton. 


Canon of York, Archdeacon of Wells, and Treasurer of England. 
In 13837 he was made Chancellor of Ireland, and afterwards 
“Warden” of that kingdom. He was recalled in 1340, and on 
his death, 11th January, 1348, was buried under the great window 
of the north transept at Hereford. He appears to have resigned 
Downton on his election to Hereford, for in that year the Bishopric 
of Winchester being void, Edward III. assumed the right to the 
temporal possessions of the see, and presented to Downton Richard 
de Ayreminne,” a Canon of Lincoln. This appointment also seems 
not to have been recognized by the Pope, for in the following 
year John, Cardinal of 8. Angelo, obtained a provision from him 
of Downton, which is described as “ void,” not by the resignation 
of Ayreminne, but “by the consecration of Thomas, Bishop of 
Hereford.” * 

It is probable that Richard de Ayreminne may be identified with 
the person of that name who in 1324 was appointed Keeper of the 
Rolls. He seems, however, almost immediately to have quarrelled 
with the King, for at the end of the same year he is alluded to as 
“nuper custos cancellarum,” and in the following year he delivered 
up the keys of the chests to Nicholas Clyf, his successor :* further, 
after repeated commands to appear before the King in 1326, the 
Sheriff of York was commanded to compel him to appear. What 
happened is not recorded, but he soon obtained the Pope’s favour. 
In 1827, besides having been appointed to Downton, he was Canon 
of Lincoln, and in the following year he is mentioned as holding 
the Prebends of Cauleton with Turleby, in Lincoln, and of Cokerton, 
in Darlington. He was, also, at this time Rector of Elveley (Kirk 
Ella), had a prebendal portion in the free chapel of Wimborne 
Minster, and the provision of a Canonry and Prebend of Chichester.* 
Tn 1328 he obtained, besides, from Pope John at Avignon the pro- 
vision of a Canonry and Prebend of Salisbury, on condition that he 


1 Fasti Herefordenses. 
? Patent Rolls. 
% Papal Letters. 

4 Parliamentary Writs. 
° Papal Letters. 


By the Rev. J. K. Floyer, WA., FSA. . 109 


resigned the Rectory of Elveley, to which the Pope then presented 
 Itherius de Itherio de Concoreto, Bachelor of Civil and Canon Law, 
—evidently an Italian. In 1331 Ayreminne obtained also from 
the Pope, though at the request of the King—Ayreminne being 
described as one of his clergy—the Prebend of Briklesworth. If he 
is to be identified with the former Master of the Rolls, he must 
have become reconciled to the King. In the following year, 1332, 
the Pope also writes that plenary remission is to be given by his 
confessor at the hour of death, under condition of contrition, con- 
fession, and satisfaction, when required, to Richard de Ayreminne, 
among others, who is described merely as ‘‘ Canon of Chichester.” 

John, Cardinal of 8S. Angelo, did not hold Downton for long, for 
in 1330 William de Mere is mentioned as “ rector,’”’ ! and obtained 
from Pope John the reservation of a benefice, without cure of souls, 
in the gift of the Abbess and Convent of Wilton. 

It is worth noting that the value of the Rectory of Downton, at 
the time of William de Mere’s tenure of it, is mentioned as twenty- 
five marks. 


Of the remaining two clergy of our period there is nothing special 
recorded. On May 4th, 1380, William de Wykeham, then Bishop 
of Winchester, obtained licence for the appropriation in mortmain 
of the Church of Downton, on condition that he should apply the 
profits thereof in aid of the maintenance of seventy poor scholars 
studying grammar in a college to be founded by him in or near 
Winchester? 

A further licence was obtained by him from Pope Urban VI. 
to hold the rectory himself in mortmain, provision being made for 
the maintenance of a vicar. Nicholas de Alresford, therefore, 
would, technically, be vicar under Wykeham. 

The advowson and rectorial tithe still continue in the hands of 
his college at Winchester. 

A list is given below of the burgesses returned to Parliament for 
_ Downton, which differs slightly in some respects from the one in 


1 Papal Letters. 
2 Patent Rolls. 


110. Passages in the History of Downton. 


Hoare’s Wiltshire. It is taken from the Government publication 
of the ‘ Parliamentary Writs.” The period covered by the list 
was one when surnames were not fixed, and it is possible that what 
appears as a surname in many instances expresses the trade of the 
burgess or his immediate forefathers. Thus, Geoffrey Rotarius is 
called in another place Geoffrey le Wheler, “ rotarius,” being the 
latin name for a wheelwright. “Taylor” and “Cissor” are in 
another case interchangeable, and it may be suggested that Henry 
“le Drapier”’ was really a cloth-worker; Robert le Wryere, a 
basket-maker ; and Nicholas “le Mareshal,’’ a farrier. Concerning 
the representation of small boroughs such as Downton must have 
been, it may be useful to give a quotation from that ancient 
document, ‘“‘ Modus Tenendi Parliamentum,” which represented the 
custom at the above period :— 


“Concerning the Burgesses. 

“Tt used and ought to be commanded to the bailiffs and good men of boroughs 
that they should elect two fit, honourable, and experienced burgesses from among 
themselves, and for them to come and be present at the en: 
but the two burgesses used not to receive for their expenses more than wn 
shillings for one day, and sometimes not more than half a mark, and this used 
to be taxed by the court according to the greatness and power of the borough and 
according to the greatness and power of the person sent.” ! 


It is to be regretted that, so far, it has not been found possible 
to trace the effect upon Downton of such calamities as the “ Black 
Death,” or such political events as the Labourers’ revolt in the time 
of Richard II. The following entry may have some connection 
with the latter, though Downton is not mentioned in it :— 


“] Richard II. Westminster. Commission in pursuance of the recent 
ordinance of Parliament, of oyer and terminer to ‘certain people’ in respect of the 
tenants of the Abbess of Shaftesbury at Bradford, Ludyngton, Donhevede 
(Donhead?) and Donyton (Donington?) Co. Wilts, who at the instigation of 
certain counsellors, maintainers and abettors, have long refused the customs and 
service due for their tenures, and have in divers assemblies confederated and 
bound themselves by oath to resist and daily congregate to do further mischief— 
with power to imprison those who are indicted.” ? 


This rising was not confined to one locality, but is alluded to in 


1 Trans. by Sir T. Duffus Hardy, 1846. 
? Patent Rolls. 


4 


By the Rev. J. K. Floyer, M.A., FSA. 111 


the same way at Egham, in parts of Dorsetshire, the neighbourhood 

of Bath, and at Aston Bampton, in Oxfordshire. 

| The general revolt of the commons did not reach its chmax until 
two or three years later. 


: List of Downton Clergy, 1281—1401 :— 
7 


How 
mentioned, 


Year. Reference, 


Presented | Patent Rolls 

Presented | Papal Letters 
Rector Papal Letters 
Restored Papal Letters 


1281 
1290 
1297 
1297 


John de Montibus 
William Burnell 
Robert de Maydenstane 
William Burnell 


1304 ’ Presented} Bp. of Winton’s Regr. 
1317 Robert de Harewedon Parson Close Rolls 
1313 William de Honingham Parson Close Rolls 
1318 Robert de Sandall Instituted | Close Rolls 


1318 ‘ Instituted} Hoare’s Wilts 
1320 ¢ Thomas de Chorleton tine Papal Letters 
1327 Richard de Ayreminne Presented | Patent Rolls 
1328 John, Cardinal of S. Angelo Provision | Papal Letters 
1330 William de Mere Rector Papal Letters 
1336 John de Droghton Parson Patent Rolls 
1337 John de la Colon Parson Patent Rolls 
1361 John de Edyngton Instituted | Hoare’s Wilts 


1383 
1401 


Nicholas de Alresford Instituted| Hoare’s Wilts 
Thomas Turk Presented by the Warden Hoare’s Wilts 
of the College of 8. Mary, Winchester 


Burgesses returned to Parliament for the Borough of Downton, 1295 
—1396. Extracted from the “ Parliamentary Writs,” printed by 
Government, 1827 :— 


NE 


Year. Place. Name of Burgess, &c. 


; Johannes Spede 
1295 Westminster Ricardus de la Sale 
Reginaldus de Aula 
1298 York J ohannes Whithorn 
. Rogerus de Portesmue 
oe Lineoln Willielmus Leycester 
1304 Westminster | { Hogens loge 
1306 Westminster Johannes de Donton 
. Radulphus Lavering 
1306 Carlisle Banna Seeds 
1307 Northampton The writ was returned to the Bailiff of 


the Liberty, who gave no answer to 
the Sheriff 


112 Passages in the History of Downton. 
Year, Place. Name of Burgess, &c. 
1309 No return 
1311 Westminster { 2a pine are 
1311 Return made again, but name torn off 
: Johannes le Cove 
1312 Lincoln { Johannes Any 
1313 Writ returned to the Bp. of Winchester, 
Bailiff of the Liberty of Downton, 
who has the return of all writs, and 
the execution thereof, by whom no 
answer was given to the Sheriff 
: . Galfridus Nymethalf 
W313 Westminster Rogerus de Portsmouth 
F ? Johannes le Cove 
1318 Pcsinainsten Galfrydus Nymethalf 
1314 The return, if any, torn off 
: Nicholaus le Mareshal 
oe ME a Willielmus Whithorn 
Galfridus Rotarius 
ans York Batre le Drapier 
: . . Norreys 
ie Heek Galfridus le Wheolore 
1320-21-22-23 No return made 
1 . 
1323 Restate | ee ee 
ana: ‘ Johannes Curtays 
1325 Westminster Nibhbiametle Core 
1326 Wactuinstey Edwardus de Tarente 


Nicholaus de Brikelswade 


EO 


1 Entered on the pawn or roll of attendance. 


7 
; 
' 


i 113 
j 


Alotes on the Heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral. 


By the Rev. E, E. Dorutne. 


| 
| 
: 


[Read at the Salisbury Meeting of the Society, 1896.] 


WAN presenting to the notice of your Society a few observations 
<2 on the heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral, I must begin by 
confessing that our cathedral is not a church rich in heraldic 
ornamentation. In fact, architecturally speaking, and so far as the 
_ actual fabric of the church is concerned, it is completely devoid of 
heraldry. Compare this cathedral with such a church as Sherborne 
_ Abbey, and you will understand what I mean when I say that the 

structure is absolutely unheraldic. And the reason of this absence of 

heraldry in the architecture of our church is not far to seek. Planché 

lays it down as a fundamental fact that heraldry appears as a science 

at the commencement of the thirteenth century. Now Salisbury 
- Cathedral was begun in 1220, and was substantially finished in 1266, 

so that even by the time the building was completed heraldry would 

only just be beginning to assume the position to which it gradually 
_ attained as a well ordered and intelligible science. But, in the other 
ease, heraldry had come to be recognised as an essential part of the 
nation’s economy when Sherborne Abbey was left, practically as 
_we know it now, after the great re-building by Abbots Bradford 
and Ramsam in the fifteenth century. Until the end of Henry 
IITs reign heraldry was only in process of assuming a definite and 
systematic character. And if it is objected that the architecture of 
Westminster Abbey—a church built contemporaneously with 
Salisbury Cathedral and finished only a few years later—is rich in 
heraldic adornment, the poverty of the Salisbury builders might be 
suggested as a further reason for our church’s lack of heraldry. 
The deans of the building period placed on record the difficulty 
which they experienced in obtaining funds for the prosecution of 
the work, and it is not altogether unreasonable to suppose that the 


114 Notes on the Heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral. 


builders of Salisbury Cathedral were content to build as well as 
they could with the money at their disposal, without calling in the 
aid of heraldic art as an additional luxury of adornment, a reason 
which’ possibly would not weigh with a wealthy community such 
as the Abbey of Westminster. But if the building itself is not 
heraldic, it possesses many great monuments which are. You will 
scarcely expect me to enumerate all the heraldic monuments in the 
cathedral. I have not the time to make, nor could I tax your 
patience so far as to expect you to listen to, a bare enumeration of 
all the coats of arms in the building. Let me then beg your 
attention while I speak of six great monuments, belonging respec- 
tively to the thirteenth and five following centuries. 

The first of these is the famous timber altar-tomb supporting the 
stone effigy of William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, son of Henry 
II. and Rosamund Clifford. 'This monument stands on the “ stone 
bench” between the two easternmost pillars on the south side of 
the nave, where it was placed by the ingenious Mr. Wyatt after 
its impious removal by him from the north side of the Lady Chapel 
during his disastrous “ restoration”’ at the end of the last century. 
The earl, who died in 1226, is represented in a complete suit of 
chain mail, carved with extraordinary fidelity, the body being 
covered from neck to knee with a loose surcoat confined at the 
waist by a narrow belt, the latter supporting the long sword which 
gave the earl his surname. On his left arm is the great war shield 
reaching very nearly from the shoulder to below the knee, charged 
with the arms of Longespée—Azure, six lioncels rampant or, 3, — 
2, 1. On the shield the charges are carved in relief; on the 
surcoat they were simply painted flat. Traces of colour and gilding 
are still quite plainly visible on both. 

Let us cross now to the north side of the nave, where, on the 
plinth in the second bay to the east of the north porch, rests—only 
temporarily, it is to be hoped—the monument of Sir John Montacute, — 
younger son of William, first Earl of Salisbury of this family, who 
died in 1390. His tomb, desecrated and placed in its present — 
position by Wyatt, formerly stood on the north side of the Lady 
Chapel, apparently against the wall, though Gough places it on the 


By the Rev. E. E. Dorling. 115 


_ plinth between the Lady Chapel and the Chapel of St. Peter, now 
occupied by the Gorges monument. The monument is an altar- 
tomb, decorated with six quatrefoils enclosing shields—one at the 
east and west, and four on the south side—and bearing the recum- 
bent effigy of the knight in plate armour of the end of the four- 
teenth century, with his head resting on a great tilting helmet, 
bearing the griffin crest of his house. The shield at the east end 
bears Argent three fusils conjoined in fess gules, within a bordure sable, 
_ the arms of Montacute,with the bordure as the difference of the second 
son; that on the west the arms of the Isle of Man—Gruies, three 
human legs in armour, conjoined at the thighs and flexed in triangle 
proper quartering Montacute (without the bordure). William, the 
first earl, was “king” of the Isle of Man, and though in 1392 his 
eldest son had sold the island, he had reserved to his house the 
right of quartering these “arms of pretension” with his own, 
without a difference. On the south side of the monument, 
counting from the west, are the following shields of arms :— 
Montacute within a bordure sable (the arms of Sir John) cmpaling 
Or, an eagle displayed vert, the arms of Margaret his wife, the heiress 
of Monthermer. It is noteworthy that in this shield and the next, 
which is charged with Sir John’s arms impaling an uncharged coat, 


the whole of the bordure, in accordance with ancient custom, is 
shown; but the very remarkable third shield bearing Montacute 
within a bordure engrailed sable quartering the Monthermer eagle is 
one of which I have been unable to find any satisfactory explanation. 

Apropos of Montacute quartering Monthermer, I should like to 
remind you of the notable picture by Edwin Abbey, A.R.A., in 
this year’s Academy, representing the wooing of the Lady Anne 
Neville by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, at the funeral of his victim, 
Henry VI. Anne Neville was the daughter of Warwick, “the 
King-maker,” who, through his mother, Alice Montacute, was 
ourth in descent from this Sir John whose monument we are con- 
sidering, and the painter has marked Anne’s descent by blazoning 
her gorgeous robe with Montacute quartering Monthermer. (She 
actually bore as the second quarter of her shield, when Queen 
of Richard III., Montacute impaling Monthermer.) 


116 Notes on the Heraldry of Salisbury Cathedrail. 


The third monument to which I have to refer is that of Bishop 
Mitford in the first bay between the south choir aisle and the south- 
west transept, where, in accordance with directions which the 
bishop left in his will, his monument forms the north side of the 
chapel of St. Margaret. Richard Mitford was translated from 
Chichester to Sarum in 1396 (19 Rd. I1.), and he died here in 
1407 (8 Hen. IV.). His monument is canopied by a flattened 
Perpendicular arch, under which, on a sadly defaced altar-tomb, 
lies the figure of the bishop in full pontificals. In the east spandrel 
on the north side of the arch are the arms of the see of Saram— 

sure, the Blessed Virgin, standing, vested and crowned, holding on 
her right arm the infant Saviour, and in her left hand a sceptre, all or. 
In the west spandrel, on the same side, are the arms of Mitford— 
Barry of 4 indented, or, azure, or, sable. On the south side of the 
arch, in the west spandrel, are the arms of Henry IV., in whose 
reign the bishop died—France Modern and England quarterly (the 
change from France Ancient to France Modern had been made just 
two years earlier); and in the east spandrel a shield charged with 
Azure, a cross patonce between five martlets (with long beaks, but without 
legs) or, the arms attributed to Edward the Confessor, and borne 
by Richard II., who was reigning when, in 1390, Mitford was 
consecrated Bishop of Chichester. The moulding of the arch is 
decorated on both sides with a vigorously carved series of columbine 
flowers (one of the badges of Henry IV.) alternating with birds 
holding in their beaks scrolls inscribed with the motto “‘ Honor Deo 
et gloria.” I take these birds, notwithstanding their long beaks 
and legs, to be martlets, derived from the Confessor’s shield; so 
that, if my supposition is correct, this decorated moulding is allusive 
to the two kings in whose reign Mitford was bishop. 

The chantry of Bishop Edmund Audley, in the middle bay on 
the north side of the presbytery, is the next monument to claim 


our attention. This is a very elaborate edifice of Perpendicular ‘ 
work, built by the bishop himself in 1520 in honour of the 


Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, roofed with an elaborate and 
splendid fan-vaulting, and enclosing in its south side an altar-tomb 
in which he lies. This splendid monument is, for our present 


By the Rev. EB. E. Dorling. 117 


. purpose, principally interesting as evidence of the decay of heraldic 
taste at the time it was built. It only contains three true heraldic 
shields, and two of these are repeated on various parts of the monu- 
ment, while there are more than a dozen shields bearing the two 
sacred monograms, I.H.8. and MARIA, and the monograms of 
the bishop, H.A. and E.S. On the exceptionally large bosses 
of the vault are two great shields charged, the westernmost with 
the Audley arms—Gwies, fretty or, and that to the east with the 
arms of the see impaling Audley. The Audley coat appears again 
ensigned with a mitre on the cresting at the top of the monument 
on the south side, and impaled by Sarum and ensigned, on the 
north side, as well as in the spandrels of both doors and on the 
altar-tomb. On the tomb also appears the arms of the Order of the 
Garter—Argent, a cross gules, of which the Bishop of Salisbury was 
chancellor. One other shield demands a word of notice. It is 
finely carved in the western spandrel of either door-arch, and bears 
Gules, a butterfly or. There is no such coat known in British 
armoury, and as the butterfly occurs again amongst the decoration 
of the moulding I am inclined to think that it may be an Audley 
badge and not a charge. Within the chantry on the string-course 
over the site of the altar, among a number of defaced pieces of 
_ decoration, is a shield, Gules charged with the five wounds of our Lord. 
It is needless to say that this shield, as well as those of the arms of . 
the see, have all been chipped and partially obliterated in the most 
eareful and painstaking manner. 

Next on my list is the great monument which stands on the site 
of the altar of St. Stephen, at the east end of the south choir aisle, 
erected to the memory of Edward Seymour, Karl of Hertford, who 
died in 1621, and of his wife Catherine Grey, daughter of Henry 
Grey, Duke of Suffolk. This gorgeous and elaborate erection is 
singularly rich in English heraldry, displaying on no less than 
eighteen separate shields the principal alliances of the powerful 
families of Seymour and Grey. At the summit of the whole 
appears the complete achievement of Lord Hertford—Quarterly of 6. 
l. Or, on a pile gules between six fleurs-de-lis azure, three lions 
of England—the augmentation granted by Henry VIII. “ of his 


| 


118 Notes on the Heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral. 


mere grace” in commemoration of his marriage with Jane Seymour. 
2. Gules, two wings conjoined in lure or—Seymour. 3. Vair— 
Beauchamp. 4. Argent, three demi-lions rampant gulee—Sturmy. 
5. Per bend argent and gules, three roses in bend counterchanged.— 
MacWilliam. 6. Argent, on a bend gules, three leopard’s faces or— 
Coker. The shield is surmounted by the phenix crest of Seymour, 
and supported on the dexter by a unicorn argent, ducally gorged per 
pale of the first and or, chained of the last, and on the sinister by a 
bull azure, armed, unguled, ducally gorged and chained or. Beneath 
this achievement is a lofty arch in the spandrels of which are the 
coats of the Seymour augmentation and of Grey—Barry of 6 
argent and azure, in chief three torteaux, a label ermine—to the north 
and south respectively. Within the arch is a long latin inscription 
detailing the merits of the earl and countess, surrounded by a 
conventional genealogical tree bearing fifteen shields. Beginning 
at the bottom on the north side is Seymour impaling Beauchamp ; 
then follow Seymour impaling Sturmy; MacWilliam; Coker ; 
Darrell— Azure, a lion rampant crowned or ; and Wentworth—Sabie, - 
a chevron between three leopard’s faces or. Nextis the coat of Edward, 
Duke of Somerset, ‘“ the Protector ’—the augmentation and 
Seymour quarterly, impaling Stanhope—Quarterly ermine and gules; 
and at the top of the tree is Lord Hertford’s own quarterly coat 
impaling Grey. Returning now to the south or female side of the 
tree, and beginning at the base, we find Grey impaling the following 
coats :—Strange—Gules, two lions passant argent ; Astley— Azure, 
a cinquefoil pierced ermine; Ferrers of Chartley— Vairy or and gules ; 
Widville—Argent, a fess and a canton conjoined gules; Harington 
—Sable, a fret argent, quartering Bonville—Sable, six mullets argent : 
pierced gules, 3, 2, 1; Wotton—Argent, a cross patty fitchy sable ; 
and Brandon—Barry of 10 argent and gules, a lion rampant or, 
crowned per pale of the first and second. Below the inscription is 
the full 2 coat of Seymour, quarterly of 14, impaling Grey, quarterly 
of 16, as follows:—Seymour, quarterly of 14. 1. The augmentation. 


1 Wrongly blazoned on the monument. 
2 See the accompanying illustration, and the genealogical table of the descent 
of Seymour and Grey. 


PALING GREY. 


brings i 


Sibel, a 
of her 


Rea m de Valence, 
William de Vivon,] of Pembroke. 
heir of his mot + 1296. 

was co-heir of 


John de pr and=John, 2nd Lord 
+ Aymer Hastings. 
he. + 1327. 


i Elizabeth.=Roger, Ist Lord 
| Grey de Ruthyn. 


+ 1353. 
= a 
John, 3rdestrange.=John, 2nd Lord Grey 
+ s.p. ! de Ruthyn. 
+ 1389. 
Margaret, 
her mo 
Peter d 
Reginald, established right to=Joan, heir of 
name and arms of Hastings. | William de 
+ 1441. Astley. 


:Sir Raward Grey, created Lord Ferrers of 
Groby; Grey of Groby ; Lord Astley 
as heir of his mother. 

+ 1468. 


n. 

460. 

K.G. 1st Marquis of Dorset. 
+ 1501. 


2nd Marquis of Dorset. 
+ 1530. 


| 
enry, K.G., 3rd Marquis of Dorset, 
created Duke of Suffolk. 

+ 1554. 


ne Grey. 


GENEALOGICAL TREE, ILLUSTRATING THE SHIELD OF SEYMOUR IMPALING 


GREY. 


William de Ferrers,=Agnes, sister 
6th Earl of Derby. 
+ 1246. 


1 


and coheir of 


Randulph Blundeville, Harl 
of Chester and Lincoln. 


9 


Sibel, coheir of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke ;=William, 7th Earl of Derby = Mercere coheir of Roger 


brings in Strongbow, Giffard and Macmurgh as coheir 
of her mother, Isabel de Clare. 


Lord of Chartley. 
+ 1254. 


de Quinci, Earl of Win- 
chester. 


2 
William de Vivon, or de Fortibus,=Maud, widow of 


| 
William, Lord of Groby 


Joan de Muntchesnil,=William de Valence, 
niece of Sibel Mar- Earl of Pembroke. 


heir of his mother Mabel, who William de by gift of his mother ; shall. + 1296. 
was co-heir of William Malet. Kymes assumed the arms of 
Quinci. 
John de Beauchamp.=Cicely. + 1288. Mabel, sister and=John, 2nd Lord 
+ 1283. | coheir of Aymer Hastings. 
William, 1st Baron Ferrers, de Valence. + 1327. 
of Groby. 
John, Ist Lord Beauchamp, + 1325. Elizabeth.=Roger, Ist Lord 
of Hache. | | Grey de Ruthyn. 
+ 1836. Henry, 2nd Baron, + 1353. 
| + 1343. 
John, 2nd Baron. | 
+ 1343. William, 3rd Baron. 
: | + 1372. 
Cecilia, coheir of her=Sir Roger Seymour, | 
John, 3rd Baron, brother, John de of Swyndon, Co. Henry, 4th Baron. Eleanor Lestrange.=John, 2nd Lord Grey 
+ s.p. 1360. Beauchamp. Wilts. + 1388. ! de Ruthyn. 
: | + 1389. 
Margaret, heir of Brockburn, and of=Sir William. William, 5th Baron. 
her mother, who was coheir of Sir| + 1363. + 1445. 
Peter de la Mare. | | 
| | 
Maud, heir of=Roger Henry. Reginald, established right to=Joan, heir of 
Sturmy and name and arms of Hastings. {| William de 


Hussey. 


Isabel, heir of=John. 
MacWilliam. | + 1464. 


John.=Elizabeth, heir 


+ vp. of Coker. 
John.=Elizabeth 
+ 1490. Darrell. 


Sir John.=Margery 
+ 1536. Wentworth. 
9 
Edward, K.G., created=Anne 
Duke of Somerset. Stanhope. 
+ 1552. 


+ Up. 
| + 1441. 
[ese eee 
| : 
Elizabeth, sole heir=Sir Rawal Grey, created Lord Ferrers of 
to Barony of Groby; Grey of Groby ; Lord Astley 
Ferrers of Groby. us heir of his mother. 


Astley. 


2 em + 1458. 
King Edward IV.=Elizabeth Widville.=John. 
+ 1460. 
2 
Cecilia, heir of William Bonville.=Thomas. K.G. 1st Marquis of Dorset. 
Lord Harington. + 1501. 


9 
Margaret=Thomas. K.G. 2nd Marquis of Dorset. 


Wotton. | + 1530. 
5 


| 
Frances, heir of Charles Brandon,=Henry, K.G., 3rd Marquis of Dorset, 
Duke of Suffolk ; 
Rockele, Bruyn and Pole. 


created Duke of Suffolk. 
+ 1554. 


brings in 


Edward, Baron Beauchamp, and Earl of Hertford.=Lady Catherine Grey 


4 
; 


i) 
pe 
. 


He 
Vr 


ae: 
> eee 


LA *) 
i Fm WP Boy i ty 
A / 
Ci | 

a7 \ Get FF fi 

! | i he 


ii 


SHIELD ON THE HERTFORD MONUMENT 
IN SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. 


By the Rev. E. E. Dorling. 119 


2. Seymour. 3. Beauchamp. 4. Fortibus—'Gules, on a chief 
argent a label of the field. 5. Malet—Aszwure, three escallops or. 6. 
Marshall—Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules. 7. Strongbow 
— —!0r, six lioncels rampant sable, 2, 2, 2. 8. Giffard—'Gu/es, 
three lions passant in pale argent. 9. Macmurgh—Sabie, three garbs 
argent. 10. Dela Mare—! Or, three bars dancetty gules. 11. Sturmy. 
12. Hussey—Barry of 6 ermine and gules. 13. MacWilliam. 14. 
Coker. Grey, quarterly of 16. 1. Grey. 2. Hastings—Or, a 
maunch gules. 3. Valence—Barry of 10 argent and azure, an orle 
of martlets gules. 4. Astley. 5. Ferrers of Chartley. 6. Ferrers 
of Groby—Guiles, seven mascles or, 3, 3, 1. 7. 1 Astley. 8. 
Blundeville—Azwre, three garbs or. 9. Lupus of Chester—Azure, 
a wolf’s head erased argent. 10. Widville. 11. Bonville. 12. 
Harington. 13. Brandon. 14. Rockele—'Zozengy ermine and 
azure. 15. Bruyn—Aswre, a cross moline or. 16. Pole—Azure, 
a fess between three leopard’s faces or. The phoenix crest of Seymour 
is blazoned a second time above the inscription, and two other crests, 
viz., a lion’s head affronty per pale argent and azure, and a unicorn 
statant ermine, maned and unguled or, before a sun in splendour of the 
last, appear on either side of the monument. Lastly, near the heads 
of the effigies of the earl and countess kneels a man in armour 
bearing on his left arm a shield of the Seymour augmentation. 
The last monument which I have to describe is that of Sir John 

-Mompesson and his third wife Catherine Paginton (or Packington). 
Sir John died in 1627, and his monument, which stands against 
the wall of the south choir aisle in the bay next to that of Bishop 
Mitford, bears a close resemblance in style and treatment to the 
Hertford monument. The figures of Sir John and Dame Catherine 
lie under an arch, on the summit of which is a coat bearing Mom- 
pessou quarterly of 6 impaling Paginton quarterly of 4, as follows :— 
-Mompesson, quarterly of 6. 1 and 6. Mompesson—Argent, a lion 
rampant sable, charged on the shoulder with a martlet or, in chief a 
mullet gules for difference. 2. Godwyn—Gules, a chevron ermine 


— 


1 Wrongly blazoned on the monument. 
LL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVII. K 


120° Notes on the Heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral. 


between three leopard’s faces or. 3. Drew—Ermine, a lion passant 
gules. 4. Watkins—Asure, a fess between three leopard’s faces 
Jessant-de-lis or. 5. Sable, a tower argent, in chief three plates. 
Paginton, quarterly of 4. 1. Paginton—Per chevron sabie and 
argent, in chief three mullets fess-wise or, in base as many garbs gules. 
2. Baldwin—Argent, six oak leaves in pairs, 2 and 1, the points 
downwards vert, stalked sable. 3. Arden—Ermine, a fess chequy or 
and azure, an annulet gules for difference. 4. Washbourne—Argent 
on a fess between six martlets gules, three quatrefoils slipped of the 
Jjirst. In the eastern spandrel of the arch is a shield bearing 
Mompesson impaling Howard of Effingham—Guiles, on a bend, 
between six crosses crossiet fitchy argent, a mullet sable, the arms of 
Sir Richard’s first wife; and in the western spandrel Mompesson 
impales the coat of his second wife, Elizabeth Oglethorp, who bore 
Argent, a chevron between three boar’s heads couped sable. Round the 
arch is a series of nine shields bearing the following arms :— 
Beginning at the bottom on the east side are Mompesson im- 
paling the coat of his fifth quarter; Watkins ; Drew; and Godwyn 
respectively. At the top of the arch is Mompesson impaling 
Paginton; and beginning at the bottom on the west side we find 
four shields of Paginton /mpaling Baldwin; Washbourne; Arden ; 
and Baldwin again. 

The Hungerford chantry, familiarly known as “the cage,” 
removed from its original position in the nave in 1778, and 
decorated in the best heraldic taste by the second Karl of Radnor, 
stands on the middle bay of the south side of the presbytery, 
opposite to the Audley chantry. It is now used as the family pew 
of the Radnor family. Iam unable, through lack of space, to say 
more at present than that this chantry deserves the most careful 
study, containing, as it does, a multitude of the armorial bearings 
of a most important and ancient Wiltshire family. The Gorges 
monument, already referred to, is also worthy of study on account 
of the interesting series of foreign coats of arms which form part 
of its decoration. 

I should like to mention a curious coat, which forms the third 
quarter of the arms of Henry Hyde, carved on his monument on 


| 
| 


By the Rev. E. E. Dorling. 121 


the south wall of the nave. This is, Argent, a tiger passant, re- 
guardant, coward gules, gazing ata mirror azure handled or, for Sibbell 
of Kent. This very singular collocation of bearings only belongs 
to two families in English heraldry. Speaking of this coat Gwillim 
moralises thus :—‘‘Some report that those who rob the Tigre of 
her young, use a policy to detain their dam from following them, 
by casting sundry Looking-glasses in the way, whereat she useth 
long to gaze, whether it be to behold her own beauty, or because, 
when she seeth her shape in the glass, she thinketh she seeth one 
of her young ones, and so they escape the swiftness of her pursuit. 
And thus are many deceived of the substance whiles they are busied 
about the shadows.”’ 

It is not a little surprising that there are scarcely more than a 
dozen coats of arms of Bishops of Salisbury in their own cathedral. 
I venture to pass on to the Society a suggestion made to me by one 
of your members, that it would be most appropriate to fill the great 
window of the north-east transept, which is exactly opposite to 
the throne, with stained glass, containing a complete series of the 
arms of the Bishops of Sarum. 

This leads me to say one last word about the heraldic glass in 
the Cathedral. The only ancient specimens are in the windows 
at the west end of the nave. In the south aisle appears the 
complicated coat of Bishop Jewel—Or, on a chevron azure between 
three gilly flowers gules slipped vert, a maid’s head of the first, ducally 
crowned of the third, on a chief sable a hark’s lure stringed of the 
Jirst between two falcons argent. In the north aisle window is the 
quartered shield of Thomas ap Rice, who died in 1560. He bore 
quarterly (1) Ap Rice—Sabile, three roses argent; (2) Cotymore— 
Gules, a chevron between three stag’s heads, cabossed argent; (8) 
~ Meredith—Gu/es, a chevron ermines between three helmets argent; (4) 
— Foulkes—Gules, three boar’s heads erased in pale argent. At the 
top of the great west window are the arms of Henry VII. within 
the garter and ensigned with a royal crown, and at the bottom are 
the following shields :—Beginning at the south side: (1) Clare— 
Or, three chevronels gules; (2) Paly of 8 gules and or; doubtless 

epresenting the arms of Arragon (Or, four pallets gules) borne by 

K 2 


122 Certificate of the Town Gild of Malmesbury. 


Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III.; (3) France Ancient; (4) 
England; (5) Richard of Cornwall, King of the Romans—Argent, 
a lion rampant gules crowned or, within a bordure sable bezanty; (6) 
De Burgh—Or, a cross gules. 

In the space and time at my disposal I have not been able to do 
more than touch the fringe of a subject which ought to be of great 
interest to all Wiltshire people, and especially to such a Society as 
that which I have had the honour of addressing; and I venture to 
hope that if I have been so fortunate as to arouse any interest in 
the heraldry of Salisbury Cathedral my words may induce someone 
more competent than myself to take this important subject in hand 
and treat it in the way it deserves. 


Certificate of the Toton Gild of Italmesbury, 


(Public Record Oflice—Certificates, Xe., of Ceuilys. 
Chancery No. 443.) 


SHE accompanying certificate is the only existing example 
for the county of Wilts of the returns made to the king 

in council by order of parliament, as to the ordinances, wages, 

properties, &c., of English Gilds, 12 Rich. I., A.D. 1389. 

Canon Jackson mentions in his History of Malmesbury (Wilts 
Arch. Mag., vol. viii.) the deed by which king Athelstan gave land 
to the burgesses of Malmesbury, about the year 930:—“I give 
and grant to them that royal heath near my little town of Norton 
for their aid given me in my conflict with the Danes”; and in 
a note to J. Aubrey’s account of Malmesbury (p. 252) says 
that Malmesbury Common was enclosed and allotted by act of 


DAT, 


=| 


ee se ee 


ead ~ 
SS 


123 


Certificate of the Town Gild of Malmesbury. 


parliament 8th June, 1821, and adds that a “ Bruera,” or rough 
pasture, near the manor called Brendeheth (now Burnt Heath 
Farm), “was given by King Athelstan”’ for sustaining one chaplain 
to pray for the souls of the King and the burgesses. [Pat. Hen. V. 
Jones’ Index.} In this note Canon Jackson also mentions the 
chaplain and the source of his income, which, according to the cer- 
tificate, was “46 shillings in all’’; but the only allusion found 
_ to “the Chapel built in honour of God and St. John the Baptist,” 
is in Canon Jackson’s “ Ancient Chapels in Co. Wilts” (Wilts 
Arch. Mag., vol. x., p. 294), where he says “ The Valor Eccles. 
names as in the Abbey Church, a chapel of St. John the Baptist, 
the chapel of the B.V.M., and the shrine of St. Aldhelm; but 
no notices of any of these having been endowed have been met 


with.” 
interesting. 


“A nostre tresexcellent et tresgra- 
ciouse Seigneur nostre Seigneur le Roi 
et a son tresage consaill certefiont en sa 
Chauncerie lez poeres Aldreman et 
Burgeysez oue toute la cominalte de la 
ville de Malmesbury ge la dite ville de 
Malmesbury feust et est une aunciene 
ville et auxi Burgh et de tout temps 
deuant le Roi Athelston et puis saunz 
ascun interrupcione. Et le Roi Athel- 
_ ston progenitour nostre Seigneur le Roi 
 qorest a cez Burgeis de Malmesbury 
_ suzditz et a lour successours granta qils 
 eient et teignent touz lez vsages et 
_ frankes customes sicome ils tendreierent 
en temps de cez progenitours et qils 
_ Soient quites de Burghbote Bruggebote 
Wardewite Hornegeld et scot. Et outre 
dona a lez ditz Burgeysez un bruer 
iuxta la ville de Norton conteignant 
cink hides de terre en feide] de eux et 
de lour Burgh et cominalte purceo qils 
feurent eidantz a luy encontre lez Danes 
Sicome appiert en sa charte conferme et 
ratefie par vous nostre Seigneur le Roi 
Et lez ditz Burgeises ont usez de temps 
‘dont memorie ne court a contrarie ge 


The following record of endowment is, therefore, very 


“To our most excellent and most 
gracious lord our lord the king and to 
his most wise council certify into his 
chancery the poor aldermen and bur- 
gesses with all the commonalty of the 
town of Malmesbury that the said town 
of Malmesbury was and is an ancient 
town and also borough and from all 
time before the king Athelston and 
since without any interruption. And 
the king Athelston progenitor of our 
lord the king who now is to his bur- 
gesses of Malmesbury abovesaid and to 
their successors granted that they may 
have and hold all the usages and free 
customs so as they held them in time 
of his progenitors and that they may 
be quit of burghbote, bruggebote war- 
dewite hornegeld and scot. And besides 
he gave to the said burgesses a heath 
near the town of Norton containing five 
hides of land in aid of them and of their 
borough and commonalty because they 
were helpful to him against the Danes 
sO aS appears in his charter confirmed 
and ratified by you our lord the king. 
And the said burgesses have been wont 


124 


chescun temps qascun deuient Burgeys 
a demurrer deinz mesme la Burgh il 
iurra gil serra foial et loial a nostre 
Seigneur le Roi et a cez heires et gil ne 
ferra rienz ge purra turner en disherit- 
ance de mesmes Burgeisez et cominalte 
touchant lez fraunchisez Suzditz. Et 
lez Burgeisez auantditz veiantz le grant 
et graciouse done et conferment le Roi 
Athelston en son temps firent edefier 
une chapell en honour de dieu et Seint 
Johan le Baptist en quell chapell estoit 
ordeignez par lez ditz Burgeises qe 
perpetuelement seroit un chapelleyn 
pur chaunter chescun iour pur lez almes 
le Roi Athelston et dame Mauld Sa 
compaigne et lez almes du (sic) Roies 
dengleterre et pur lez almes de lez 
Burgeisez de mesme la ville et de lour 
progenitours et successours et pur lez 
almes dez bienfesours a mesme la ville 
Et apres la deces de chescun chapelleyn 
up autre serra eslieu par lez ditz Bur- 
geisez et mys en la dite chapelle en 
dewe forme et issi demurer pur sa vie 
le quell chapelleyn issint ordeigne ad 
estee et chaunte pur lez almes Suzditz 
et de toutz cristianes tout temps puis 
encea. A quell chapeleyn et sez Suc- 
cessours hommes et femmes ascuns en 
lour testament ont deuisez et ascuns 
sanz testament par don ont doner partie 
deuant temps de memorie et partie puis 
et longe temps deuant lestatut de re- 
ligiouses terres et tenemenz en eide et 
sustinances de mesme la (sic) chapelleyn 
pur acomplier cell grant almoigne gency 
bon manere feust comence les queux 
terres et tenemenz montent par an a 
quarant et Sis Soldzen tout. Et purceo 
ge le dit chapelleyn ne poet Suffisaunte- 
ment viure de cell rent le Aldreman et 
lez Burgeises de mesme le Burgh donent 
a luy le remenant de lour biens propres. 
Et auxi ordeigneront deuant temps de 
memorie pur mesme le chapelleyn un 
mancione a luy et cez Successours Et 
autres biens pur Seruer en la dite cha- 


Certificate of the Town Gild of Malmesbury. 


from time whereof memory runs not.to 
the contrary that every time that any- 
one becomes a burgess to live in the 
same borough he shall swear that he 
will be faithful and loyal to our lord the 
king and to his heirs and that he will 
do nothing which can turn to the dis- 
inheritance of the same burgesses and 
commonalty touching the abovesaid 
franchises. And the burgesses aforesaid 
considering the great and gracious gift 
and conferment of king Athelston in 
his time had a chapel built in honour of 
God and St. John the Baptist in which 
chapel was ordained by the said bur- 
gesses that perpetually should be a 
chaplain to sing every day for the souls 
of king Athelston and dame Maud his 
spouse, and the souls of the kings of 
England, and for the souls of the bur- 
gesses of the same town and of their pro- 
genitors and successors and for the souls 
of the benefactors of the same town. 
And after the decease of every chaplain 
another shall be chosen by the said 
burgesses and put iu the said chapel in 
due form, and there to stay for his life, 
the which chaplain thus ordained has 
been and sung for the souls abovesaid 
and all Christian souls all time since 
after. To which chaplain and his suc- 
cessors men and women some in their 
wills have devised and some without 
wills by gift have given, some before 
time of memory,and some since, and long 
time before the statute of the religious, 
lands and tenements in aid and susti- 
nence of the same chaplain for the 
accomplishment of this great charity 
which in such good manner was begun. 
The which lands and tenements amount 
by year to forty and six shillings in all. 
And because that the said chaplain 
cannot sufficiently live of this rent the 
alderman and burgesses of the same 
borough give him the remainder out 
of their own goods. And also ordained 
before time of memory for the same 


 pell cestassauer un mysall un portos un 
graiell un chalys deux peires de veste- 
- mentz oue lec touallez necessaries lez 
queux ornementz issint nomez amontent 
a la value de x. li queux biens Sont en 


Certificate of the Town Gild of Malmesbury. 


125 


chaplain a dwelling-house for him and 
his successors and other goods to serve 
in the said chapel, to wit, a mysall, a 
portos, a graiell, a chalys, two pairs 
of vestments with the necessary towels, 


the which ornaments thus named 
amount to the value of x. li., the which 
goods are in the keeping of the chaplain 
of the said chapel.’ 


Ja garde de chapelleyn du dicte chapell.” 


BA very interesting account of Malmesbury Common, with a plan, 


quoting Gent. Mag. of 1832, and Mr. Trice Martin, in his preface 
~ to the Registrum Malmesburiense, vol. ii., p. xliti., giving 


& 
; jf “ an interesting archaism which accompanies the delivery of the allotted portions 
of land to the commoners. Seizin was given by the transferring of a twig and 
the repetition of the rhyming formula :— 


‘This land and twig I give to thee, 
. As free as Athelstan gave it to me, 
And I hope a loving brother thou wilt be.’ 


_ The appearance of the rhyme at once denotes that we are in the presence of 
_ archaic custom, and the last line recalls that ‘common brotherhood ’ which is the 
typical feature of early communities,” &c. 


a» 


126 


Aletil Qaskelpne, A, FAS., 
Astronomer Aropal. 


By T. S. MasKELyrne. 


{VIL MASKELYNE, afterwards Astronomer Royal of 
England, was born 5th October (15th October, N.S.), 1732, 
at Kensington Gore, where his father, Edmund Maskelyne, resided. 
But, though the place of his birth was thus beyond the borders of 
our county, there can be no more question that his name is properly 
included in any catalogue of “ Wiltshire Worthies” than his claim 
can be disputed to eminent rank in the field of pure science, and to 
the very foremost rank among those benefactors of their country 
who have applied the teachings of science directly to the public 
good. His observations at St. Helena and on Schehallien have 
their place in the history of science, but it is as the projector of the 
“ Nautical Almanac”’ that his name will live longest in the memory 
of a land of mariners. 

The family of which in his latter days he became the representa- 
tive had belonged for more than three hundred years to Purton, in 
this county, and its vicinity. His lineal ancestor, Robert Maskelyne, 
from whom his descent is perfectly well traced by evidences, ‘“ held 
land freely” within the manor of Lydiard Millicent, Co. Wilts, as 
early as 1435. 

In the year 1560 one “ Edmond Maslin,” Robert’s descendant in 
the fifth degree, was christened at Purton, the earliest extant entry 
in the baptismal register there. He was M.P. for Cricklade in 
1625,! and is described sometimes as ‘“‘of the Inner Temple,” 
sometimes as ‘“‘of Cliffords Inn, gentleman.” His wife was a 
granddaughter of Mary Nevill, sister of Lord Abergavenny, 


and, like his neighbours at Oaksey, the Pooles, and with equal — 


1 The returns for Cricklade, 1625, are missing, but Brown Willis states that 
EdmundMaskelyne was M.P. for Cricklade in that year. 


= 


Nevil Maskelyne, D.D., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal. 127 


right, he bestowed the Christian name of Nevill on his son. 
Nevill Maskelyne succeeded his father as “lord of the manor and 
borough and hundred of Cricklade,” and sat as M.P. for Cricklade 
in 1660. His great-grandson, Edmund Maskelyne, father of the 
astronomer, was a clerk under the Duke of Newcastle in the 
Secretary of State’s Office, Whitehall—a Foreign Office clerk 
‘would be his modern description. At the time of his marriage he 
resided in the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, but subsequently 
removed to a house in Kensington Gore, and about four years after 
the birth of Nevil, his youngest son, settled in Tothill Street, 
Westminster. Here, in 1744, he died, having had the pleasure of 
seeing two of his sons, William and Edmund, elected King’s 
scholars on the ancient foundation of St. Peter’s College, or 
Westminster School, hard by, where Nevil, the youngest, j oined 
them in 1743. 
The mother of the astronomer was Elizabeth Booth, only child 
of John Booth, of Chester (by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and 
coheir of Edward Proger, Ranger of Bushey Park, and Gentleman 
of the Bedchamber to King Charles II.) and granddaughter of 
George Booth, Prothonotary of Chester, whose translation of 
“Diodorus Siculus” shows him to have been a scholar. Of this 
lady there is a portrait at Basset Down, and there is a letter from 
her hand preserved among the MSS. of Thomas Pelham, Duke of 
~ Neweastle (now in the British Museum), appealing to the Duke, 
~ at her husband’s death-bed, in behalf of their second son. 
_ Edmund Maskelyne’s whole anxiety when dying, was, as appears 
from his will, for his daughter (afterwards Lady Clive) and two 
younger sons. His eldest boy, William, educated, as we have 
seen, at Westminster, and afterwards Fellow of Trinity College, 
_ Cambridge, where he was, in July, 1753, a candidate for the Hebrew 
4 professorship, had been in the previous year put beyond want by 
the care of his godfather and great-uncle, William Bathe, who 
~ bequeathed to him the whole of his estate with land, and the in- 
teresting old moated house now called The Ponds, at Purton Stoke, 
subject only to some legacies. Relieved from all pressure of 
" poverty, William made no name for himself in the world. 


128 = Nevt/ Maskelyne, D.D., F.RS., Astronomer Royal. 


> writes, in 1765, their cousin the 


“T am impatient to hear,’ 
Honble. Mrs. Hervey, to Captain Edmund Maskelyne, the second 
son (then in India with his life-long friend and brother-in-law, 
Lord Clive), “how poor Nevil does. It’s pity great abilities has 
not larger purses.” And yet the slender purse, perhaps, counted 
for something in the different issue of the brothers’ lives. 

Elizabeth Maskelyne, his mother, died in the winter of 1743. 
“Poor Neice Maskelyne died of a Palsey,” is the note in the diary 
of her aunt, Mrs. Katherine Howard. Thus, when he was just 
15, Nevil became an orphan in respect to both his parents. 

The nature and extent of his life’s work will best appear-from a 
chronological statement of what he did. 

As before stated Nevil Maskelyne was educated at Westminster ; 
and afterwards successively at Catherine Hall, Pembroke Hall, and 
Trinity College, Cambridge, taking his B.A. degree in 1754; M.A., 
in 1757; Trinity fellowship, in 1757; B.D. degree, in 1768; and 
DD. jin: lieity. 

He says of himself that :— 

“it was from occasional discourses in the family that he became eager to see the 
effect of telescopes and to know more of the system of the universe. The 
observing of the great eclipse of the sun in 1748 with Mr. Ayscough in an 


unusual manner by means of the sun’s image projected through a telescope on a 
white screen in camera obscura added fresh spur to his astronomical desires. . . .” 


It is a singular coincidence that to this same eclipse the French 
astronomer Lalande owed also his introduction to astronomy. He 
was only three months older than Nevil Maskelyne, and was his 
correspondent and friend to the end of his life. 

In 1755 Maskelyne accepted a curacy at Barnet, and about this 
time became acquainted with the then Astronomer Royal, Dr. 
Bradley, whom he assisted in his astronomical calculations. 

In 1758 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and became 
an important contributor to the Philosophical Transactions. 

In 1761 he was chosen by the Royal Society to go to the Island 
of St. Helena to observe the transit of Venus. The cloudy state of 
the weather prevented this observation, and the imperfections of 
his instruments frustrated other intentions connected with the 


By T. 8S. Maskelyne. 129 


voyage, but it answered a more important purpose and one of a 
wider influence than that originally intended. During the voyage 
he introduced into navigation the determination of longitude by 
lunar distances, ‘‘a method long contemplated as a grand desideratum 
in navigation,” plans for which had been suggested by Flamsteed, 
Newton, La Caille, and others, which it was now the task of Nevil 
Maskelyne to reduce to practice. 

Soon after his return he published his “ British Mariner’s Guide,” 
which has been called the “Germ of the Nautical Almanac.” 
*Seamen must never forget that they are indebted to him for the 
Nautical Almanac, the management of chronometers, and the 
establishment of lunar observations”? are the words of Admiral 
Smyth, in a work in which, under the name of “the Celestial 
Cycle,” he made important contributions to astronomy, while 
bringing the science within the reach of all. 

Two years later—in 1763—Maskelyne undertook another scien- 
- tifie voyage by appointment of the Lords of the Admiralty, in 
_ order to find the longitude of the Island of Barbadoes by astro- 
_ nomical observation, and to test Harrison’s chronometer ; a voyage 
— on which he held the rank of chaplain to the ship. 

In 1764 the office of Astronomer Royal became vacant by the 
death of Dr. Nathaniel Bliss, who had succeeded Dr. Bradley only 
_ two years before. 

This office was justly considered of great national importance. 
It had been established by Charles II. about a hundred years before 
this time, “for the purpose of rectifying the tables of the motions 
of the heavens and places of fixed stars, in order to find out the 
much desired longitude at sea, and for perfecting the art of, 
navigation.” Through want of this knowledge whole fleets had 
been lost, and Government had offered immense rewards for 
practical methods of determining the problem; and when Nevil 
~ Maskelyne—the “ Futher,” as he has been called, “ of Lunar 
: observation”’—was made Astronomer Royal, the appointment an- _ 
~ nounced in the London Gazette, February 16th, 1765, gave universal 
- satisfaction. 

General Malcolm (in his Life of Lord Clive) attributed the 


= 


130 = Nevil Maskelyne, D.D., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal. 


appointment to the influence of his brother-in-law, Lord Clive. 
That biographer lost no opportunity of assailing Clive’s con- 
nections, and certainly, if Lord Clive had anything to do with it, 
it may be said that he conferred a boon upon the country. But in 
fact the name Maskelyne had already earned, for work done in 
the very direction for which the observatory was instituted, 
pointed him out as one almost unique in his claim to the appoint- 
ment, and testimonials are extant in which all the greatest con- 
temporary names in British science petitioned for his appoint- 
ment. He immediately laid before the Board of Longitude the 
plan he had been long maturing for an annual publication, to be 
entitled ‘“ Nautical Almanack and Astronomical Ephemeris,” and he 
undertook the carrying out of the work necessary for the publication, 
which, beginning in 1767, he continued till his death. The vast 
amount of labour required for this important work, undertaken by 
Dr. Maskelyne with the aid of his one assistant and of a few com- 
putors, is in itself a lasting monument to a man, who, with what 
would now be the salary of a junior clerk in a public office, carried 
on for the forty-six years during which he was Astronomer Royal 
the continuous and accurate series of annual volumes, the preparation 
and publication of which now—in certainly a much extended form 
—costs the country over £12,000 per annum.! 

A “chére confrere,’ Lalande, speaks of this work of the then 
deceased Foreign Member, as “le receuil le plus precieux que nous 
avons,” and Delambre, in his celebrated Eloge on Dr. Maskelyne, 
before the Imperial Institute of France, 4th January, 18138, says, 
speaking of his Greenwich observations and catalogue of thirty-six 
principal fixed stars (four folio vols., 1776 to 1811), numbering 
about ninety thousand observations :— 

“He has left the most complete set of observations with which the world was 


ever presented, corrected in the most careful manner, which has served during ~ 
thirty years as the basis of all astronomical investigations. In short it may be said 


1The cost of the Greenwich Observatory and Nautical Almanac Office com- 
bined.— Whitaker, 1897. ; 

2 Printed in full in the Mémoires de la Classe des Sciences Mathematiques et 
Physiques de ]’Institut Imperial de France, Anné 1811, vol. 12, p. lix. 


By T. S. Maskelyne. 131 


of the four vols. of observations which he has published, that if by any great 
revolution the works of all other astronomers were lost, and this collection pre- 
served, it would contain sufficient materials to raise again nearly entire the 
edifice of modern astronomy, which cannot be said of any other collection.” 


Up to Dr. Maskelyne’s time the observations made at the Royal 
Observatory were considered the private property of the observers, 
and had never been published; it was he who saw the great im- 
portance of their annual publication, and who, together with the 
P.R.S., induced the Royal Society to undertake it, giving rise to 
Delambre’s remark “ Et c’est par la qu ’il a merité d’étre pendant 
40 ans le chef et comme le regulateur des astronomes.” 

His communications to the Royal Society are numerous, as will 
be seen by the list of his works appended to this notice of his life. 

He was presented by the Council of the Royal Society with the 
gold Copley Medal, for his work in 1774 of ‘“ weighing the world 
from the flanks of Schehallien,”’! a mountain in Perthshire, “by 
which the mean density of the earth was computed and its central 
attraction according to the Newtonian theory first demonstrated.” 
“The apparent difference of latitude between two stations on 
opposite sides of the mountain being compared with the real 


difference of latitude obtained by triangulation.” 


7 


Besides the Copley Medal he received :— 

A gold medal, from the Elector of Hanover. 

A gold medal, from Stanislaus, King of Poland. 

A medal of the Abbé Poczubut (Astronomer to the King of 
Poland) in token of his friendship, in 1777. 

A bronze medal from Catherine of Russia, together with a 
diploma? making him foreign member of the Imperial 
Academy of Science of St. Petersburg, 1776. 

A silver medal from the Institut National des Sciences et des 
Arts at Paris, twelfth year of the French Republic. 


1382. Nevil Maskelyne, D.D., F.RS., Astronomer Royal. 


France; foreign member of the Royal Society of Gottingen, 1771; 
‘and Fellow of the American Academy of Massachusetts, 1778. 

He was presented to the living of Shrawardine, in Shropshire, 
by his nephew, the second Lord Clive, in 1775, and to the living of 
‘North Runcton, in Norfolk, in 1782, by his college, when he re- 
signed the former living. 

His numerous notebooks contain information of the most varied 
kind, from mathematical problems and methods for improving the 
instruments under his care, down to new ways of sweeping chimneys, 
curing of hams, &c., and show a careful and exact mind, accurate 
even in the minute details of daily life. 

“very astronomer, every learned man, found in him a brother ”’ 
is a remark made of him by M. Delambre, adding M. Chabert’s 
testimony to his kindly reception of foreigners, then driven to take 
refuge in England, and his delicate and generous conduct towards 
them; and the same testimony is borne by M. Grosley, in his book, 
‘“‘Londres”’ (three vols., 1770), where he says of him :— 


“ Chez lequel je trouvai une politesse et une complaisance que les savants de ce 
wang n’ont pas toujours pour les passants.” 


In the “ Memoirs of Caroline Herschel”’ she makes many most 
pleasant allusions to the friendship existing between herself and 
Dr. Maskelyne—and several of his letters to her are there published, 
in one of which he calls her “my worthy sister in astronomy.” 
After every discovery of a comet she hastened to inform him of it, 
and her brother, William Herschel,! in writing to Sir J. Banks, 
P.R.S., on one of these occasions, says :—‘‘ The Astronomer Royal 
in particular obtained a very good set of valuable observations on 
its path.” She seems to have felt great pleasure in helping Dr. 
Maskelyne, as she had helped her brother, by copying out lists of 


1 W. Herschel, afterwards Sir William Herschel, Bart., was made Royal 
Astronomer in 1782 by King George III., with a pension of £200 a year, in 
acknowledgment of his services to science in making great and powerful 
telescopes. The title given to him by George III. is misleading to those who do 
not know it was a private royal appointment, and entirely distinct from that of 
Astronomer Royal of England, held by Dr. Maskelyne from 1765 to 1811. 


By T. 8. Maskelyne. yi «188 


the stars omitted in Flamsteed’s catalogue; and she alludes to 
many kind invitations to go to Greenwich, though she only once 
j paid a visit of a week there, occupying her time almost excusively 
in astronomical work. Dr. Maskelyne showed his esteem and 
appreciation of her services by having her “‘ Index to Flamsteed’s 
Observations’? printed, and by making her a present of a biaocular 
and night-glass, for which service and honour she thanks him 
warmly in letters, dated Slough, September, 1798, and January, 
— 1800. 

_ He had been Astronomer Royal for seventeen years before any 
mention is made of his meeting W. Herschel (at Bath), and it was 
not till a year later (in 1782) that Herschel took his telescope to 
Greenwich, and compared it with the greatly inferior instruments 
which were, at that time, all Dr. Maskelyne had to work with, 
and Herschel, in a letter to his sister, says that “ Dr. Maskelyne in 
public declared his obligation to me for introducing the high powers.” 
_ Although a close prisoner to his work at the observatory he spent 
part of every year at his Purton home (which he inherited on the 
death of his brother), and his notebooks show the interest he took 
in his country affairs—one note of more general interest than the 
est being, after a meeting of the county of Wilts to augment the © 
mi itia, April 14th, 1794, he “ ordered Messrs. Coutts to subscribe 
20 guineas for me at Messrs. Hoare’s.” 

- He died the 9th February, 1811, aged 79 years, at the observatory, 
he ving been Astronomer Royal forty-seven years, and was buried 
in’ Purton Church, leaving an only child, Margaret, who subse- 
quently married Mr. Anthony M. R. Story, afterwards (in 1845) 
_ Story-Maskelyne. 

The portrait of Dr. Maskelyne, presented by his widow to the 
Royal Society, was painted by Vanderpuyl in 1785. 

_ The crayon portrait at Basset Down, executed in 1804, together 


a) 


"Said to have been painted. by Vanderburgh—but the name is spelled 
Vanderpuyl in Dr. Maskelyne’s account books; he gave £25 10s. to the artist 
for the portrait and frame on 19th November, 1785, and the same sum for a 
mtrait of his wife on May 24th, 1786. 


1384 Nevil Maskelyne, D.D., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal. 


with that of his wife, Sophia Rose (to whom he was married in 
1783), is by John Russell, R.A., and was a gift by the artist to 
him. 

A large oil portrait of Mrs. Maskelyne and their daughter 
Margaret as a baby on her lap, at Basset Down, is by Vanderpuyl, 
painted+in 1786. 

A bust of Dr. Maskelyne, at Basset Down, by Sievier, in 1830, 
taken from the two pictures, is said by his cousin, J. Prowett, 
“to give the idea of a larger man, and the face too long. Dr. 
Maskelyne’s face was round, which, together with a certain play- 
fulness of manner, preserved an air of youth to a late period.” 

There are two engravings published from portraits of Dr. 
Maskelyne, one from the portrait at the Royal Society, and 
another engraving like Russell’s crayon, but omitting the obser- 
vatory, which appeared in the European Magazine. 

In the Dictionary of National Biography, under Maskelyne, is the 
following mis-statement :— 


“He married about 1785 a daughter of Henry Turner of Botwell, Middlesex, 
a sister of Lady Booth.” 


Hannah Turner, here mentioned, was the first wife of the Rev. 
George Booth, who, after his accession to the title of baronet, 
married, as his second wife, Letitia, daughter and coheir with her 
sister Sophia, Dr. Maskelyne’s wife, of John Rose, of Cotterstock, 
Co. Northampton. 


Liasr oF Works spy Dr. MASKELYNE. 


The British Mariner’s Guide containing . . . . Instructions for the Dis- 
covery of the Longitude . . . . by observations of the distance of the 
moon from the sun and stars, taken with Hadley’s Quadrant. To which 
are added an Appendix . . . . andasetof Astronomical Tables. 4to, 
London, 1763. 

An account of the going of Mr. John Harrison's Watch, at the Royal Observatory, 
from May 6th, 1776, to March 4th, 1767. Together with original obser- 
vations and calculations of the same. Appendix, containing observations of 
equal altitudes of the sun, &c.). Two pts. J. Nourse, London, 1767. Ato. 
[Watt says 1768. ] 


by order of the Commissioners of Longitude. London: printed by W. 
Richardson & S. Clark, Printers. Sold by J. Nourse in the Strand and 
booksellers to the said Commissioners. 1776 to 1816. With Dr. 
Maskelyne’ s preface. 
Tables requisite to be used with the Nautical Ephemeris. Published by order of 
the Commissioners of Longitude. 8vo. Printed by W. Richardson. Sold 
by Nourse in the Strand. Ist edition, 1776. 2nd edition, 1781. 
Mayer’s Tables, with both Latin and English Explanations. (To this Mr. M. 
added several Tracts and Tables of his own; and prefixed to the whole a 
P Latin preface, with the title: Tabule Motuum Solis et Lune.) It was 


By T. 8. Maskelyne 135 

The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris for the year 1767, pub. 
* 
4 


J published by order of the Commissioners of Longitude. 
_ Tables for computing the apparent places of the fixed stars, &c. Fol., London, 
1774, 
Astronomical observations made at the Royal Observatory . . . . from ° 
1765, to ( . . . . 1810), by N. Maskelyne. ([Ser. II.] 


} Four vols., fol., 1776—1811. 

Speech [in the debate in the Royal Society upon the conduct of Sir Joseph Banks 
with regard to Dr. Hutton, &c.]. An authentic narrative of the dissensions 
and debates in the Royal Society ; containing the speeches at large of Dr. 
Horsley, Dr. Maskelyne, Mr. Masereo, Mr. Poore, Mr. Glenie, Mr. Watson, 
and Mr. Matz. 8vo, London, 1784. 

A plan for observing Meteors called Fire-balls. Fol. [London, 1783]. 

Aviso de la vuelta del cometa, que se vid en los afios de 1532 y 1661, y se espera 
en el de 1788, leido 4 la Real Sociedad de Londres en 29 de junis de 1786. 

Traducids del Ingles al Espanol. 4to, Madrid, 1787. 

“An Answer to a Pamphlet, entitled, “A Narrative of Facts” . . . by 

_ T. Mudge, Junior, relating to some timekeepers constructed by his ithe 

Mr. Thomas Mudge, wherein . . . . the conduct of the Astronomer 

Royal, and the resolutions of the Board of Longitude respecting them are 

indicated. S8vo, London, 1792. 

A Preface and Precepts for the explanation and use of Taylor’s Tables of 

4 Logarithims. 4to, 1792. 

Observations of the Sun, Moon, and Planets—in the third vol. of Vince’s 

Astronomy (Rev. 8. Vince, A.M., F.R.S., Prof. Astronomy at Cambridge), 

and an Article on the Effect of Parallax, in vol. I., pp. 399—417 in the 

4 same work. 4to, 2nd Edit.,1814, The work is dedicated to Dr. Maskelyne. 

- Explanations of raat sence constructed by Mr, T. Earnshaw, etc. [Edited 

by N.M.] 1806. 

Versuch einer Bestimmung der Horizontal-Refraction auf der Insel St. Helena, 

aus Untergangen. Zach. Monat. Corresp. xviii., 1808, pp. 512—527. 

_ Some Account of the Hudson’s Bay and other taitiarh Observations of the 

____‘Transit of Venus, 1769. Amer. Phil. Soc. Trans., I., 1771, pp. 1—4 (App.). 

Observations of the Transit of Venus and Eclipse of the Sun made at Greenwich. 

Amer. Phil. Soc. Trans., I., 1771, pp. 105—113. 

On a new property of the tangents of three arches, &c. Nicholson’s Journal, 

xx,, 1808, p. 340. 


VOL. XXIX.—NO, LXXXVII. L 


136 Nevil Maskelyne, D.D., F.RS., Astronomer Royal. 


PAPERS IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS :— 


A proposal for discovering the Annual Parallax of Sirius, vol. li., p. 889. 

A theorem on the Aberration of the Rays of Light refracted through a Lens, 
vol. lii., p. 17. 

Observations to be made at St. Helena, to settle differences of Longitude, &c., 
vol, lii., pp. 21—26. 

Account of the Observations made on the Transit of Venus, June 6th, 1761, in 
in the Island of St. Helena, vol. lii., p. 196. 

Observations on Tides at St. Helena, vol. li, p. 586. 

Results of Observations of the Distance of the Moon from the Sun and Fixed 
Stars, made in a Voyage from England to St. Helena, &c., vol. lii., p. 558. 

Observations on a Clock of Mr. John Skelton, made at St. Helena, vol. lii., p. 434. 

Proposals for determining differences of Longitude, vol. lii., p. 607. 

On the Equation of Time and true manner of computing it, vol. liv., p. 336. 

Concise Rules for computing the effects of Refraction and Parallax in varying 
the apparent distance of the Moon from the Sun or a Star, vol. liv., p. 263. 

Astronomical Observations made at the Island of Barbadoes; at Willoughby 
Fort; and at the Observatory on Constitution Hill, vol. liv., p. 389. 

Astronomical Observations made at the Island of St. Helena, vol. liv., p. 380. 

Observations of the Transit of Venus and Eclipse of the Sun, 3rd June, 1769, 
made at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, vol. lviii., p. 355. 

Introduction to the Observations of Mr. Smeaton, vol. lviii., 154. 

Introduction to the Observations of Messrs. Mason and Dixon, vol. lviii., p. 270. 

The length of a Degree of Latitude in the Province of Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania, vol. lviii., p. 323. 

Observations on proportion of English and French measures, vol. lviii., p. 326. 

Eclipses of Jupiter's first Satelite, Eclipse of Moon and Occultations of Fixed 
Stars by Moon at Greenwich, vol. lix., p. 399. 

Description of a method of measuring differences of Right Ascension and De- — 
clination, with Dolland’s Micrometer ; with other new applications of the 
same, vol. Ixi., p. 536. 

Remarks on Hadley’s Quadrant; tending principally to remove the difficulties 
which have hitherto attended the use of the back-observation, and to obviate 
the error that might arise from a want of parallelism in the two surfaces of — 
the index-glass, vol. lxii., p. 99. 

M. de Luc’s rule for measuring heights by the barometer reduced to the English — 
measure of length and adapted to Fahrenheit’s Thermometer and other — 
scales of heat; and reduced to a more convenient expression, vol. Ixiv., p. 158. 

Observations of Jupiter’s first Satelite, vol. Ixiv., p. 184. 

Longitudes of several places in N. America, vol. Ixiv., p. 190. 

A proposal for measuring the attraction of some hill in this kingdom by astro- 
nomical observations, vol. lxv., p. 495. 

An account of Observations made on the Mountain Schehallien, for finding its 
attraction, vol. lxv., p. 500. 

On a new Instrument for measuring small angles, called the Prismatic Micro- 
meter, vol. lxvii., p. 799. 

On the Longitude of Cork, vol. Ixix., p. 179. 


The Fraternities of Sarum. 137 


Advertisement of the expected return of the Comet of 1532 and 1661, in the 
year 1788, vol. Ixxvi., p. 426. 

Concerning the Latitude and Longitude of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich 3 
with remarks on a Memorial of the late M. Cassini de Thury, vol. Ixxvii., 

151. 

An Steen pt to explain a difficulty in the Theory of Vision, depending on the 
different Refrangibility of Light, vol. lxxix., p. 256. 

Observations on the Comet of 1793, vol. Ixxxiii., p. 55. 

An account of an Appearance of Light, like a Star, seen in the dark part of the 
Moon, vol. lxxxiv., p. 435. 

On a property of the tangent of three arches trisecting the circumference of a 


circle, vol. exvii., p. 122. 


Che Fraternities of Sarum. 


By the late Rev. R. H. Cuurrersucr, F.S.A.’ 
[Read at the Salisbury Meeting of the Society, 1896.] 


WANT to ask your attention to the fact that we are met 
. in a venerable city, which can show, perhaps, more com- 
pletely than any other spot in the South of England what were the 
‘most developed features of social ahd religious life throughout the 
Middle Ages. And its records are so complete that there can 
hardly be a subject of enquiry for the antiquary to engage in for 
which New Sarum would not supply authorities and illustrations. 
TI shall try and confine myself within the narrowest limits, and 
trust to future opportunities of presenting more ample notes, which 
“may probably be more useful and less tedious, in a printed form. 
You will observe I have chosen for the title of my paper “ The 
Fraternities of Salisbury,” and I had better thus early define what I 
intend to include in that definition. I mean by the Fraternities those 


-1The lamented death of the author soon after the reading of this paper— 
whereby the cause of archeology in Salisbury and on the Hampshire border has 
suffered an irreparable loss—has deprived this paper of those “‘ more ample notes ” 
which he had intended to give in illustration of it. It is here reprinted as it 
tands in the columns of the Salisbury Journal, July 16th, 1896.—[Ep.] 


L 2 


138 The Fraternities of Sarum. 


associations which are generally described as the “ Religious” or 
“Social Gilds.”” I am glad to have the support of Dr. Malet Lambert 
for my opinion that it would be much better to invariably distinguish 
them by the designation “ Fraternity,”’ which was so generally used 
in the ancient societies. Because, by whatever term you describe 
them, you cannot help a confusion so long as you employ the word 
“Gild.” And again, it is quite impossible to separate the two aspects 
in these associations. What was a social gild was also a religious 
gild. The social life and the religious life in medieval times were 
never separated. There is no one particular which so much 
accounts for the traditional title of ‘“‘ Merrie England”’ as do these 
Fraternities, and it is perfectly impossible to examine their history 
without proving at every turn how completely the religious and 
the social aspects are interwoven. 

In this typical English city all the needs of civilised life have 
ever been exhibited. Trade has had the place that it must take 
always and everywhere. That involved here, as everywhere, 
regulation, control, and government. ‘This was of course provided 
by the Gild Merchant, which at Salisbury, as at Andover, was not 
only in existence but chartered in 1175. But it is worth mentioning 
that there was this peculiarity. In 1306 a composition was entered 
into between the citizens and the Bishop of Salisbury :— 


* Also, from the time of making of these presents there shall be, in the city 
aforesaid, a Gild of Merchants, in which thenceforth are included, as subject 
and devoted to the same Lord Bishop . . . . from henceforth only they 
shall participate in the said gild and the liberties obtained, who by the said 
Lord Biskop, his successors, the mayor of the city for the time being, shall 
happen to be thereunto admitted.” 


At Andover the records of the Gild Merchant are particularly 
numerous and perfect. 

The Craft Gilds were very powerful in Salisbury, always a most 
important factor in the life of the city, and even now perhaps hardly 
extinguished. The halls of some of these gilds have been amongst 
the relics of the past you have noticed in this visit. The Weavers’ — 
Gild was one of the chief of them, which I mention particularly 
because I shall have to allude to it again presently. In the splendid 


By the late Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, F.S.A. 139 


Museum in this city, an institution which would absorb any amount 
_ of time you could give to it, and repay with interest all your at- 
tention, we have the seals of the Weavers’ Gild, the Tailors’ Gild, 
the Carpenters’ Gild, the Bakers’ Company, and relics of others, 
and a painting of the Gild Hall pulled down rather more than a 
century ago. It is not within my province to enlarge on these 
Trade Gilds; but I want to point out that they had so many usages 
_ in common with the special subject I have in hand—the Fraternities 
_ —that it is often more than difficult to distinguish between the 
records of their respective organisations. or instance, the 
_ Weavers’ Gild maintained a priest at St. Kdmund’s Church, and 
he had his own plate and ornaments belonging to his altar, in 
exactly the same way as the Fraternities did in the same Church. 
The Craft Gilds also had their processions, their plays, their sports, 
and entertainments, and as must happen when the details are to be 
gathered from the churchwardens’ account books, which were written 
with no other idea than that of accounting for money received and 
spent, it is very difficult indeed to preserve a clear distinction. I 
have gone upon what I think will be allowed to be a safe rule, and 
considered that what the churchwardens made themselves account- 
able for may fairly be esteemed the property of the Church and of 


indicated by their name. They first sprang up amongst the free 
‘craftsmen when they were excluded from the fraternities which 
| had taken the place of the family unions. Their principal object 
was to secure their members in the independent, unimpaired, and 


ex ough. But when you meet a survival, as you do in the pageants 


at Salisbury, it becomes exceedingly difficult to be confident as to 
whether it must be traced to a craft gild or to a fraternity. And 
in the same way any attempt to get at the particulars of the 


Cathedral history, or the history of the parish Churches, brings the 


140 The Fraternities of Sarum. 


same difficulty to the front. But I hope it will be understood how 
essential it is to be clear as to which must be attributed to the one 
class of association or the other. Craft Gilds, from the nature of 
things, must be almost entirely confined to the towns. But the 
Fraternities, which are my particular subject, were very much more 
widely spread. You will allow me to emphasise, therefore, that I 
have now left the other classes, the Gild Merchant and the Craft 
Gilds, and purpose to confine myself to what have been called the 
Social or Religious Gilds, but which, as I think, would be better 
called the Fraternities. In every town and in every parish of any 
size these friendly associations, made for mutual aid and contribution, 
were institutions of local self help, which before poor-laws were 
invented took the place in old times of the modern friendly society, 
the benefit society, or in wider terms of all the organisations by 
which under the names of clubs and so on parish work is carried 
on at the present day. In fact, it is a characteristic of our time 
that Gilds for social and religious purposes are everywhere being 
resumed, the old names being re-adopted. 
There is no getting at the beginning of them, and no drawing 
lines of limitation for their varied forms. They were lay bodies 
and existed for lay purposes, and the better to enable those who 
belonged to them rightly and intelligibly to fulfil their neighbourly 
duties, as free men in a free state. They were usually called by 
the name of the saint to whom they were dedicated, the most popular 
names being St. George, Corpus Christi, the Fraternity of Jesus, 
the Fraternity of Our Lady, and so on. In Salisbury there were 
the Gild of Saint George, the Brotherhood of the Jesus Mass in 
Saint Edmund’s Church, the Fraternity of the Holy Ghost in Saint 
Martin’s Church, and in Saint Thomas’s one which, like that at St. 
Edmund’s, seems to have been called the Fraternity of the Jesus Mass. 
There was one at Andover, called after the Virgin Mary, and I 
want to mention one at Basingstoke, the Fraternity of the Holy 
Ghost, because its ruined chapel, so close to the railway station, 
may serve as a continual reminder of the subject to all who travel. 
Their number throughout the country was very great, a parlia- 
mentary return was made in 1388 of five hundred gilds existing at 


By the late Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, F.S.A. 141 


one time, but later there are said to have been, in Norfolk alone, 
no less than nine hundred and nine, and seventy-five of them in 
Lyme Regis only. Dr. Malet Lambert truly says, “‘ No attempt 
to understand or depict the English social life or thought of the 
period from the 10th to the 16th century can be true to its original 
in which these institutions do not play a large part.” These 
Fraternities were generally under the management of an alderman 
and two or more wardens or stewards, assisted by a clerk or 
secretary, a beadle, and in most cases by a chaplain. They were, 
however, far from being ecclesiastical in their character, and were 
open to every class. In 1452 the Gild of St. George at Norwich 
had on its roll one archbishop, four bishops, an earl, knights, clergy, 
fishmongers, smiths, tailors, jailors, butchers, carpenters, and so on. 
King Henry IV. and King Henry VI. were members of a gild at 
Coventry. The Gild of St. Barnabas in London numbered among 
its members both Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. The members 
do not appear to have been bound by perpetual vows, but they had 
to pay periodical contributions, or “ pence,” as they seem generally 
called, or the “ aid,”’ which contributions were collected four times 
a year. I exhibit some rolls of members belonging to the Andover 
fraternity in which the payment is indicated by notches cut in the 
parchment. I think, too, that the members, at any rate on occasions, 
_ wore a distinctive hood, and I have a theory that we can guess the_ 
fashion of such hoods. The “ Livery” companies of London do 
not, except for the court, retain the use of the gown, although 
when they are summoned to vote at the election of Sheriffs the 
order goes out that they are to attend in their livery gowns. 
‘When, however, a freeman is admitted to the livery a vestment 
is put on his shoulder which I believe is of the character of the 
fraternity hood, and it is always worn by the Master of the 


 Leathersellers’ Company. I have already pointed out so many 


similarities between the craft gilds and the fraternities that I hope 
_ I may not be considered inconsistent (notwithstanding that I want 
to emphasise the distinction between them) by trying to illustrate 
one by the other. 

Before I enter on the subject of the work accomplished by these 


142 The Fraternities of Sarum. 


Fraternities, it will be well to consider the means they had to do it 
withall—the “sinews of war.” At Salisbury we are able to do 
this with accuracy, because the accounts of the stewards, or wardens, 
of the Confraternity of the Jesus Mass exist for many years and 
are printed by the Wiltshire Record Society under the able editing 
of Dr. Straton. This Fraternity in the year 1500 possessed a 
tenement in Wynmanstreet, in which William Lobbe the brewer 
was living and paying a rent of 40s. a year. Another tenement 
thereto annexed was rented by John Combe, malt maker, at 33s, 4d, 
a year; there was another, called Combys place, next door, for 
which William Harry, the tenant, paid 25s. 8d. on a repairing 
lease; another, “aforegeynst”’ the last, for which Edmund Baker 
paid 20s. a year. Joan Spicer tenanted another house in New 
Street, paying 6s. 8d. a year; Widow Agnes A. Dene paid 6s. 8d. 
a year for the house next door. So that the rents of the Salisbury 
houses came to £6 13s.4d. Then there were the pence, which in that 
year amounted to £4 12s.4d. There were also legacies from Robert 
Todd, the brewer, 3s. 4d., and John Savernake, the chandler, 8d., 
together 4s. So that the whole receipts for that year, arrears in- 
cluded, were £13 8s. 23d. Of that sum in that year 3s. 9d. had 
to be paid to the head lord, who was the Bishop. His lordship the 
present’ Bishop tells me that all such ground rents and all other 
payments now go direct to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, so that 
there is no tracing them, which it would have been interesting to 
do. But I do not think myself, though I cannot prove it from the 
accounts of this particular brotherhood, that the Fraternities, any 
more than the churchwardens or the craft gilds, neglected the 
opportunity of turning many honest pennies by entertainments, 
and though perhaps the churchwardens were the ones to supply the 
“refreshments”? and make all they could out of them, yet the 
brothers and sisters, when possible, provided the amusements, of 
which I believe the “ collection at the close’ formed an important 
part. 

Indeed, there is one somewhat primitive drama presented in our 
parts every Christmas, which I cannot help feeling confident is the 
survival of the play of the Gild of St. George, the most frequent 


~ 


By the late Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, F.S.A. 143 


dedication for gilds. The characters, who are called Johnny Jacks, 
or Mummers, or Christmas Boys, are dressed in a costume of fringes 
of wall paper, of which I show a specimen. The play as acted in 
the neighbourhood of Andover has been printed by the Salisbury 
Journal, and may be had at the Jowrnal Office in a small pamphlet 
form. We must come now to the question as to how these funds 
were used. In Andover the objects were the maintenance of some 
almshouses known as the Spytal, which still exist, and the main- 
tenance of a stipendiary priest, whom we should describe as an 
assistant curate. At Basingstoke, where the Fraternity Chapel is 
such a well-known object, the education of youth was the good 
work undertaken, and at the suppression of the chantries, on the 
petition of Lord Sandys, it was refounded as the Grammar School, 
and the master of that school is still cited to visitations as “ Chaplain 
of the Chapel of the Holy Ghost.” The late Dr. Millard published 
the accounts of the Fraternity from 1557 to 1653. The Fraternity 
we know most about in Salisbury was that of the Jesus Mass at St. 
Edmund’s, and its name indicates the chief object of its endeavours, 


namely, the provision of a daily celebration for the parishioners. 
You will of course remember that St. Edmund’s was a collegiate 
Church, and its own staff would be occupied with their own services, 
and those for which they were responsible. But the parishioners 
had the use of the nave, and at the altar of the Holy Cross in the 
nave, they, through the agency of this Fraternity, provided them- 
selves with their own service. From the fact, I suppose, of their 
using the altar dedicated to the Holy Cross they are sometimes 
ealled the Brethren and Sisters of the Fraternity of Jesus and the 
Holy Cross. There was an altar at St. Edmund’s dedicated to the 
name of Jesus. Their priest had for his “wages” £5 6s. 8d. a 
year as a regular thing, though he got a few extras. Tor instance, 
on the Fridays in Lent he sang Salve, for which he got 7s. extra. 
The Salve is an antiphon sung in procession with the choir, the 
priest vested in a cope, the choir present with lights. It was sung 
after Compline, and therefore both priests and choir were allowed 
_ their supper. The account is entered in this way :— 


“ for brede and ale for priests and clarkes singing at Salve in Lent 5s. 8d.” 


144 The Fraternities of Sarum. 


The food is often entered as singing bread and singing wine. 
When there was an obit the priest had extra pay; 5d. seems to 
haye been about the figure. When a dirge was sung the priest 
got extra. In 1477 it was 8s. ld., but that included the tolling of 
the great bell, which I expect had to be paid for to the Church. 
When the Fraternity priest was ill, or the place was vacant, the 
wardens paid a substitute. The clerk was paid £5 8s. 8d. in 1496, 
and seems to have been lucky enough to get 20d. for engrossing 
the account. 

But he was not always so fortunate, for in the year ending 19th 
April, 1500, the account reads thus :—Stipends and rewards this 
year 

“To ye morowe masse Chapelayn of ye said mass of Jhu for his hole yeres 
wages sz. euery quarter xxvjs viijd. S’ma of the hole yeres wages evis viiid. 


To ye Clerkes yt helpith ye same Chapelayn to masse and kepith ye ornamentes 
ther, for his wages by ye bole yere sz a quarter xd. S’ma iijs. iiijd.” 


And the account goes on :— 


“for bred and ale for preistes and Clerkes yt syngeth the Salueis every fryday 
in ye lent xxd.” “Necessary costes of wexe & other for the morrow messe 
auter this yer to Will’m Harold, chaundler, for a littell Torche of rosom and for 
makyng of ij taperis for ye said morrowe masse Auter in all xvjd. To ye same 
Will’m for another Torche of rosom weyng xj lb the lb ijd. S’ ijs. vd.; to ye 
same for vj lb talowe candelis for ye said morrowe masse preist at ye masse ip 
the Wynt’ the lb jd Sma vjd; to Thomas Coke mercer for xiiij lb wexe for the 
Salue in the lent ye lb vjd. S’ma vj xjd; to ye said Willm Harold for making of 
ye same Taperis and for making of wexe torchis in all xjd; for syngyng bred 
for ye said morow messe Auter for all this yer past xd; for syngyng wine for 
ye same Auter for all this yer’ nowe past iijs vd.; for wassyng of all ye same 
Auter clothies in all this hole yere nowe past xd; for skowring of the latyn 
candilstikkes thier i all ijd. S’ma xvijs. vjd.” 


The accounts also include the cost of repairs to the property, the 
items of which, though very interesting, would weary you, even 
were I to give but a sample. 

When it came to be a case of alienation of land to endow these 
Fraternities, then a licence was necessary, which was of course pre- 
ceded by a writ and inquisition ad quod damnum, and eventually by 
letters patent the licence was granted and recorded. But except for 
alienation of land the late Mr. Toulmin Smith insists that the king’s 
licence was not necessary to the foundation of a Gild. I exhibit 


By the late Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, F.S_A. 145 


one of these writs issued as to one of the Andover chantries. The 
statutes for the government and regulation of these Fraternities are 
still extant to the number of more than five hundred, enough to 
teach us the characteristic purposes and value of these institutions. 
_ They are the remnant of a return ordered by Parliament in the 
twelfth year of Richard IT., 1388. 

They are full of interest, and would be well worth examining 
for the sake of the light they would shed on these examples at 
Salisbury, but time will not permit of my doing so now. The 

Early English Text Society printed them in 1870, with notes by 
__ the late Toulmin Smith and an introduction. by Dr. Brentano, to 
which I must refer you. 

I come now to the saddest record in the accounts of this once 
admirable Fraternity in Salisbury. It runs thus :— 


“Symon Hamsterley Stuard of Jesus Masse hath delyuered to William 
Helbroke xxiijs. vjd the xxviij day of Aprell in the xxvijth yere of Kynge Henry ~ 
the viijth. Md that William Holbrowke Steward of J’hs mas hathe made a dewe 
and a clere accompte the day and yere a bouseyd (the xxiij day of marche A° 
mecccexxxvi) and hathe delyuered vnto Davy Sydnam at the day of the seyd 
accompte xxxvs. ijd. Md that Davy Sydhnam hathe made a dewe accompte, the 
xiiij day off Aprell A° mecccexxxvij and owthe none arreragis to the churche.” 

* April 22, 1547, Christopher Tomson paid to Robert Harryson 29s. 9d. and 
ys clerely dyscharged & acquyted, there beyng present Mr. wyllyam Hanna 
mayre, Mr. Rob. Holmes, Mr. Wyllyam bryan, Mr. Thomas shorte, Mr. Apo 
chafyn yonger ffolkes Mownslow and William Kent.” 


This is the statement from the fraternity side of the result of the 
commission issued by Henry VIII. or Edward VI. to enquire and 
_ report on all the “Colleges, Chauntreys, free chapels, ffraternyties, 
 Brotherhoods, Stypendaryes, Obbitts, Lyghts, lamps and Anniver- 
_ saries.” The report on the Fraternity of the Jesus Mass at St. 
_ Edmund’s was that the incumbent was Nicholas Duryes, of the age 
‘of 63 years; that the property was worth £7 15s. 4d., from which 
7s. 4d. had to be paid to the bishop as quit rent, and 6s. to the 
priest of Tudworth’s Chantry in St. Edmund’s Church, so that the 
clear value was £7 2s. ; 

“that the sayd Incumbent is a man of honest behavyor and fame, albeit a very 


_ poore man, and hath none other lyving but the service before written, and 


furthermore he is not able to serve a cure by reason that he is impotente.” 
. 


146 The Fraternities of Sarum. 


The outcome of this commission was that the whole were con- 
fiscated and suppressed, not because any abuse or fault was even 
so much as charged to their account, but simply to satisfy the 
personal greed of an unscrupulous faction under cover of law. So 
complete was the ruin and destruction that even the very names of 
multitudes of these useful institutions have been forgotten. Mr. 
Toulmin Smith, a very unbiassed witness, says :— 


“No more gross case of wanton plunder is to be found in the history of all 
Europe. No page so black in English history.” 


I should like to close this paper with a quotation from the late 
Dr. Rock, because it seems to me a hopeful and encouraging sign 
that from the people themselves, and not from the action of the 
clergy alone, there appears to be a strong tendency to recur to the 
idea of the Fraternity :— 


“Each Gild’s first steps were bent towards their church, where solemn High 
Mass was chanted. Thence went all the brotherhood to their hall for their 
festive dinner. The processions on the occasions and other amusements so dear 
to Englishmen when the country was merry England, were meant to be edifying 
and instructive ; and helped religion to make her children both good and happy, 
through even their recreations. This present age—[the book was published 
many years ago]—with its stepmother’s chill heart, dull eye, and hard iron like 
feeling, that sees naught but idleness in a few hours’ harmless pause from toil, 
and knows nothing but unthriftiness in money spent in pious ceremonial, and 
thinks that the God who sprinkled the blue heavens with silvery stars and 
strewed the green earth with sweet breathing flowers of a thousand hues, and 
taught the birds to make every grove to ring with their blithe songs, and told 
the little brook to run forth with a gladsome ripple, all in worship of Himself, 
can be best and most honoured by the highest and noblest of his wonderful works 
—the soul of man—the more gloomy, the more mopish, the sourer it is—such 
an age will not understand the good which in a moral and social point of view 
was bestowed upon this country by the religious pageants, and pious plays and 
interludes of a by-gone epoch. Through such means, however, not only were 
the working classes furnished with needful relaxation, but their very merry- 
makings instructed while they diverted them.” 


147 


GHitches’ Brooms. 


By C. R. Srraton, F.ES. 


i lt aici! ieee 


[Read at the Salisbury Meeting of the Society, 1896.) 


4 URIOUS plant structures, which go by the name of witches’ 
brooms, are frequently seen growing on Birch, Abele, 
Hornbeam, and Silver Fir. They are not unlike bird’s nests, or 
bunches of mistletoe ; they are, however, not parasites like mistletoe, 
but distorted parts of the tree itself. When a Birch tree is affected 
a bud will be found here and there larger and looser than the 
others; if the loose scales be shaken off it will be seen that the 
contained shoot is stunted and a circle of buds surrounds the un- 
_ developed central bud. ach bud of this circle undergoes the same 
development, without waiting for the returning seasons of growth, 

_ and crop after crop is thrown out until the work of five or six years 
has been crowded into one. The leaves and shoots dwindle, but 
_ the woody base goes on increasing. If one of these brooms be 
tapped gently over a sheet of paper a number of small gall-mites 
may be shaken out. These phytopti are not, properly speaking, 
insects, but belong to the same class as spiders. Their cylindrical 
bodies are + of an inch in diameter, and they have four short legs 
placed close to the head. Their eggs are found under the scales of 
the bud. It is the influence of the phytoptus that produces this 
_ rapid bud formation, and as a result an enormously increased supply 
of food for its young. I need not enumerate the many trees which 
gall-mites tuft in this way. Sometimes the flower bud only is 
attacked, and many of those flowers that “run back” to green leaves 


148 Witches’ Brooms. 


the broom are very soft and are arranged in circles, but the broom 
dies and withers after four or five years. Some of the fungi 
producing these brooms have two generations alternating between 
two plants. very species of tree that bears a broom has its own 
special gall-mite or fungus as the active agent in provoking its 
growth; and whether the agent be animal or vegetable it causes a 
rapid and unnatural bud development upon a thickened woody base. 
The Hornbeam owes its broom to the Hvoaseus carpini. 

I am aware that this is an Archeological as well as a Natural 
History Society, and therefore with this brief explanation of the 
biology of these curious structures I will turn to the archeological 
aspect of the subject, and endeavour to show how witches’ brooms 
came to possess that name, and to be mixed up with witcheraft. 

‘A belief in supernatural influence exists in every primitive 
people. Wherever the sun rises in the east to sink in the west, 
and, putting on the cap of darkness, travels back through the 
unknown land until he comes to the east again, those who watch 
him develop the idea of another world. And wherever men 
dream and hold converse with those who have passed away, they 
people that unknown land with the spirits of the departed, and 
believe that when those spirits have left that western shore, where 
the sun goes down, they still watch over and care for the living. 
The dead chief watches over his tribe, and the father over his 
children, to see that they act justly to each other. If a Zulu were 
to ill-treat his brother he believes that his father’s spirit would 
come to him in a dream and injure him. Every unaccountable 
circumstance is referred by the primitive mind to this ghostly 
interference. A child while teething has convulsions—the spirit 
father has sent a demon to rend the child. It is to remind its 
parents of something they have omitted to do, and they offer a 
meat offering and a drink offering that these may rise in a cloud 
to the offended spirit. The sacrifice is offered, the evil spirit is 
exorcised, and the child recovers. 

One of the oldest records existing is a memorial tablet preserved 
in the Bibliothéque in Paris. It belongs to the time of Rameses 
XII., and is about three thousand years old. It tells us that the 


By C. R. Straton, FES. 149 


Egyptian God Khons was sent in his ark to cure the little princess 

Bentaresh of the evil movement in her limbs. When he came the 

demon said “ Great god who chasest demons, I am thy slave, I will 

go to the place whence I came.” Then they made a sacrifice for 
that spirit, and he went in peace, leaving the patient cured. Here 
we have demoniacal possession as the disease, and exorcism with 
sacrifice as the remedy. This story of the little Egyptian princess 
suffering from St. Vitus’ dance is older than the Odyssey, and it 
gives a simple picture of primitive belief. There are spots on the 
shores of the Atlantic where vestiges of early beliefs still linger. 

In the Hebrides, the land of Ossian, on the West Coast of Ireland, 

and in Brittany we find traces of these primitive ideas, stranded 

where the westward tide of civilization has left them. Near the 
western point of France is a bay called the Bay of Departed Souls. 

As many a vessel, like the ill-fated Drummond Castile, is wrecked 

on that coast it is often supposed that it takes its name from the * 

number of shipwrecks it sees; but it is not so. The Baie des 

Trépassés was the shore of the stream beyond which the sun sinks 
q into that unknown land we see in dreams, and it was from the 
_ Bay of Souls that the spirit started on its journey. There is one 
custom, too, which the Bretons still preserve of such touching 
sweetness that I cannot forbear mentioning it. Before retiring to 
rest on the festival of All Souls, the peasants in every homestead 
make up the fire, unbolt the door, and leave the supper table spread, 
ready for the spirits of those loved ones who will visit their homes 
that night. 

Very different, however, from this lofty idea of spirits still 
| _ watching over and caring for the living are the later and coarser 
notions of witchcraft. The belief in the Middle Ages was no 
longer ‘that a departed spirit was the agent, but that a living 
_ person had entered into a compact with Satanas, the arch-fiend, 
and was working by his power. There was the same tendency to 
explain whatever they did not understand by a reference to ghostly 
_ interference, but the demons were now sent by living people called 

_ witches instead of by the spirit father. 
_ Certain passages in the Old Testament ordained that sorcerers 


150 Witches’ Brooms. 


should not be allowed to live, and “prophets, sorcerers, witches, 
feeders of evil spirits, charmers, and provokers of unlawful love,” 
were punished ; “indeed,” says Coke, “it would have been a great 
defect in government, to have suffered such devilish abominations 
to pass unpunished.” The crime of witchcraft was described by a 
legal writer as witches entering into a covenant with the devil to do 
all the mischief possible, he on his part promising certain things. 
He gave them an imp, which served them as their familiar and was 
kept in a pot that had a very evil smell. If a witch could write 
she signed this covenant with her blood, if she could not write the 
devil put his mark on her; this was like a flea-bite or a blue spot, 
and it was quite insensible to pain and did not bleed if pricked. 
When witches entered as novices they were received at great 
gatherings called witches’ sabbaths, held once a year at midnight. 
The usual day in Scotland was All Hallowe’en; and in Germany 
it was Walpurgis Nicht, the 1st of May, when enormous witch 
gatherings took place on the Brocken. According to the confession 
of Elizabeth Style, a Somersetshire witch, in 1664, the Devil 
appeared to her and promised her money and all the pleasures’ of 
the world for twelve years if she sold herself to him. He pricked 
her fourth finger of the right hand, and she signed the parchment 
with her blood, giving her soul over to him and covenanting to 
obey his laws. The sabbath was held on the Common at Stoke 
Trister, and wound up with dancing and feasting, the Devil 
vanishing in flames and the witches singing at the close :— 


“Merry we meet, merry we meet, and merry we part.” 


Witches had often to go great distances to keep their appointments 
at these meetings, and if they were not punctual the Devil used to 
give them a severe drubbing. For the purposes of flight they had 
to render their bodies very light by anointing themselves with a 
composition resembling the Hell-broth described in Macbeth. 
Serapings of altars, filings of Church clocks, and the “ finger of 
birth-strangled babe,” were among the ingredients of this ointment. 
To get fingers witches often violated unburied bodies, and lights 
and bells were used to keep them off. When a witch had anointed 


By C. R. Straton, FES. 151 


herself she mounted a broom, and took a sieve, either in her hand 
or on her head. There is a sculptured stone in Elgin Cathedral 
which shows a witch sitting on the edge of the moon holding her 
broom in her hand. According to the confessions of witches these 
meetings did not differ much from the description given in Tam 0’ 
Shanter when he saw “ Warlocks and witches in a dance.” A 
Jews’ harp supplied the music, and the meeting-place was usually 
decorated with coffins, murderers’ bones in gibbet-irons, and un- 
baptised infants; the Devil preached from a pulpit lighted with 
black candles. New-comers renounced their ““baptism at the font 
stone” and the Devil occasionally baptised them afresh “with a 


_ waft of his hand like a dewing.” At cock-crow there was a ory of 
_ “ Horse and Hattock in the Devil’s name,’’ when each mounted 


and flew through the air, “and in an instant all was dark.”” While 
witches were away from their homes on the Devil’s business it was 
necessary to conceal their absence from their husbands. To do this 
was one of the chief uses of the broom. A broom was laid in bed 


_ in the witch’s place, and as she did so the witch said three times :— 


*T lay down this besom in the Devil’s name, 
Let it not stir till I come again.” 


The broom then became a woman by the husband’s side, and re- 
mained so until the witch’s return. At witch trials it was useless 
for the husband to swear his wife had never been absent or engaged 


in witcheraft, for it was at once explained to him that his failure 


_ to discover his wife’s absence was only an additional proof of her 


guilt. The Devil always found women more easily approached 


j than men, so writers say, and the typical witches in the Middle 
_ Ages, and on to the 17th century, were “ withered hags most wild 
in their attire,” decrepit, wrinkled, with a hairy lip and gobber 


tooth, a squint eye and squeaking voice. They carried a distaff 
and were attended by a black cat. They travelled about on a 
broom, hovering “through the fog and filthy air.” They could 
foretell future events, produce vermin or destroy them, and like the 
_ Pied Piper of Hamelin, “draw the children of the town happy and 
Bieyous to the blue river where they leave all griefs behind.” A 
VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVII. M 


¢ 


152 Witches’ Brooms. 


witch could make men and animals “ dwindle, peak and pine,”’ she 
could influence the fruits and crops, and could make the trees bear 
brooms for her use. Under her spells the cows would refuse to 
give milk and milk would yield no butter, for she milked the cows 
in the night and dropped witches’ butter about, which botanists 
now call Exidia glandulosa. She could raise storms, as King James 
believed he had found to his cost. She could summon the Devil 
by beating three times on the ground and saying “ Rise up, foul 
thief!”’?; she could change herself into a hare or any other animal 
by “ throwing a glamour,” greatly to the annoyance of sportsmen. 
She could make philtres which if dropped into the eye produced 
love; and she could distil a venom from poisonous herbs which 
might be dropped into the ear as Shakespeare has beautifully told. 
She could heal sicknesses or transfer them to others, and she could 
take away the spells of other witches. In 1588 Alison Pearson 
was tried for having cured the Archbishop of Saint Andrews by 
witchcraft. He had suffered from ague, with palpitation, and 
feebleness in his back and loins, and Alison confessed that a green 
man, who was her familiar, had told her to make a salve of hart’s 
grease and spikenard, and rub it on the nape of His Grace’s neck, 
chest, and stomach. She also gave him ewe’s milk, claret mulled 
with herbs, and some boiled fowl. By these means the Archbishop _ 
recovered, and his sickness was transferred from His Grace to His _ 
Grace’s palfrey, which died, or, as says the legend :— 
“They laid it on his fat white horse, 
As all men saw, it soon deceased.” 

On the margin of the court record two words are written, ‘“ convicta 
et combusta,” so that the poor woman was burnt although “she 
made him droggis that did him gude.”’ In the same year the Earl 
of Angus was ill unto death, and was said by the physicians to be 
bewitched. A wizard offered to remove the spell if the old Earl 
would allow him, but—unlike the Archbishop—he refused to be 
healed, ‘‘I shall never be beholden to a devil’s instrument,” he said, 
and died. 

The extent to which this metaphysical crime grew gave rise to a 
new profession, and each district had its witch-finder, who appears 


By C. R. Straton, FES. 153 


to have been a self-constituted public prosecutor of the most 
dangerous kind. The Bull of Pope Innocent VIII. says :—“ It 
has come to our ears that numbers of both sexes do not avoid to 
have intercourse with the infernal fiends and that by their sorceries 
they afflict both man and beast, that they blight the marriage bed, 
destroy the births of women, and the increase of cattle, they blast 
the corn on the ground, the fruits of the trees, the grass and the 
herbs of the field: the Inquisitors are therefore called upon to 
“convict, imprison, and punish.”” They seem to have entered into 
this work with great zest, for in Geneva in one year five hundred 
*“ Protestant witches” were burnt, and in Como athousand. There 
is no doubt that the secret meetings of the Waldenses gave a ground 
of suspicion which the Inquisitors were not slow to avail themselves 
of. In Sweden the things done in Heaven’s name took a revolting 
turn. In one village more than sixty children were tried, fifteen 
were burnt, thirty-six were lashed every Sunday for a year at the 
Church door, and twenty very young ones for three Sundays only. 
Then public prayers were offered that Heaven might be pleased to 
restrain the power of the Devil. 

In England the Bishops’ Articles of Visitation directed enquiry 
to be made “ whether you have any who use enchantments, witch- 
craft, sorcery, or any like craft invented by the Devil.” The Pope 
rather resented the secular courts’ interference with witchcraft, and 
considered that these trials belonged to the ecclesiastical courts, 


indeed the fees for exorcism amounted to a very considerable sum. 


The Calvinists did not believe in the rite of exorcism; they were, 
nevertheless, equally bitter against witches, although the Pope’s 
Bulls began to associate “ Witches and Heretics” in a common 
excommunication. The method of exorcism employed by the 


Calvinists was “by strong prayer.” A committee took turns, 
_ relieving each other, and praying loudly and fervently until the 


devil was cast out. One demon resisted for a whole year, and had 
finally to be given up. This was evidently very trying to the 


_ persons who were supposed to be possessed, and a canon was pro- 
_ mulgated forbidding ministers any longer to try and expel devils 


‘ 


* 


: 


without a licence from the bishop. 
M 2 


. 


154 Witches’ Brooms. 


Witch-finding reached its climax in 1645, when a man named 
Hopkins assumed the title of Witch-finder General, and in the 
Eastern Counties superintended the examination of witches by 
means of the most horrible tortures. When any unaccountable or 
unexpected event happened, ‘if anyone had a sheep sick of the 
giddies, or a hog of the mumps, or a horse of the staggers, or a 
knavish boy of the school, or an idle girl of her wheel, or a young 
drab of the sullens, and she hath a little help of the epilepsy or 
cramp,” then an appeal was made to the witch-finder, who looked 
round the neighbourhood for some one of the type of features which 
pointed to a witch. In Africa at present there are places where no 
old woman’s life is safe for twenty-four hours at a time; and in 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England age was as 
little respected. If the old woman on whom suspicion fell could 
not show her broom when asked, this afforded a clue. Again, if 
on the trees in the neighbourhood a witch’s broom was found 
growing it was clear that the witch was not far off who grew it for 
use in the black art. 

A farmer’s wife who was not very prosperous was told that if 
she would do as her neighbours’ wives did she would thrive too. 
These women were witches deeply learned in the Devil’s wicked 
ways. Having imposed on her a vow of secrecy they told her 
when she went to bed to take the besom with her, leave it in her 
place when her husband was asleep, and come with them. Having 
slipped away she found her neighbours waiting with brooms and 
sieves, and the three, mounted on their brooms, sped over hill and 
glen. When they reached the mountain they found its top in 
flames. They heard sweet music, and a savoury smell arose from 


1 As to the reason why a broom was considered an appropriate vehicle for a witch, 
I can only throw out this suggestion :—The word scoba (from scopa) was used 
for a broom, and witches were called scobaces because they rode on brooms. 
The same word scoba was used for milfoil, mille foliola. This was not the 
plant we now call milfoil, but the horsetail, eguisetwm, which was sold in Rome 
for brooms. Whether the fanciful artists of the time drew a witch witha 
horsetail behind her, and converted this into a broom, I must leave those pos- 
sessed of the necessary scholarship and leisure to determine; but certain 
references to brooms in mythology would point to an earlier origin than this. 


ay yaa ee * 


i 


pg ABAD the TE * he 


3 pee 


By C. RB. Straton, FES. 155 


a table spread with many dishes, at which a tall dark gentleman of 
foreign appearance received all comers. Women were flying about 
as if they were crows, and when the farmer’s wife looked round 
she saw her two neighbours floating in the middle of the river in 
their sieves. She crossed herself and cried out ‘“ Holy Mother, 
confound them!” Yells of despair followed, and then all was dark. 
The farmer’s wife hurried back to her house and barred the door. 
Husband and broom were just as she left them, and she slipped 
unobserved into her place. But the neighbours’ wives never re- 
turned to their homes, and Madge Macdonald, a wise woman, was 
consulted by the husbands of the lost women. Madge muttered 
“ Hast, West, South, North; East, West, South, North” for some 
time, and then asked if a broom ora sieve had been missed. A 
search was made, each husband owned that a broom and a sieve 
were missing. “So I thought,” said Madge, “ Look for your 
wives in the River Spey!’’ The bodies were never found, but the 
sieves were in the Witches’ Pool. 

Besides witches’ brooms flint arrow-heads were another very 
certain sign of the presence of a witch. Lady Fowlis was accused 
of destroying her step-son by the “artillery of elf-land.” Isabella 


_ Gowdie confessed that at Lammas, 1659, she and others were 


rambling through the country as cats and hares, penetrating their 
neighbours’ houses and wasting their goods, when the mountain 
opened and they entered a fair big room as bright as day. At the 
entrance large bulls ramped and roared. Within, the arch-fiend 
and the elves were busy making arrow-heads. 

Tf a witch could not be got to confess she was tried in various 
ways. In Trial by Fleeting the fingers of one hand were tied to 
the toes of the opposite foot and in this way she was dragged by 
ropes through a pond. If she were a witch she floated from the 
lightness the ointment gave her body, and also, as King James 
puts it, “because water refuses to receive into its bosom those who 
have shaken off the waters of baptism.”” The unfortunate part of 
this trial was that it was only by being drowned that she could be 


_ proved innocent. Humane bystanders often suggested another 


_test—weighing the witch against the parish bible. Scripture, it 


156 Witches’ Brooms. 


was said, being the work of God himself, must naturally outweigh 
the operations and vassals of the Devil. As the parish bible weighed 
about 12Ibs the woman easily won by this trial. Another horrible 
method of conviction was to watch for the return of her imps to be 
suckled, which it was supposed they did at least once in twenty- 
four hours. During all these hours the poor wretch was kept 
naked, perched on a stool in the middle of a room, without food or 
drink, while pins were run into her flesh to keep her awake; a 
little hole was made in the door of the room to admit the imp; if 
a fly or a spider were seen it was killed at once, but if it could not 
be killed it was satisfactory evidence that her imp had returned as 
a fly or a spider, and she was burnt. At the same time the witch 
was carefully examined for her Devil’s mark, and if at any part 
the din. pins used caused no pain, or did not draw blood, it was at 
that spot that the Devil had sealed her. Sometimes the proof was 
of an unexpected kind. In 1752 Captain Douglas awoke in the 
night and saw a black cat jumping out of the window, he fired his 
pistol but she flew over the Church steeple. Next morning he 
found his landlady had swooned and was lying in a pool of blood, 
with one of her ears shot off. It was clear that he had shot her 
under the form of a cat. A cruel husband was persuaded by 
Margaret Clarke to leave off beating his wife, and actually did so. 
Such a result, it was said by those who knew him, could only be 
attributed to witchcraft. In a similar way a dentist who extracted 
a tooth without pain, and a woman whose skirts were not draggled 
on a wet day, both fell under suspicion. At her trial it was always 
observed that a witch could only shed three tears, and these from 
the left eye; and she could never say the Lord’s Prayer without 
pausing at the words ‘“‘ Forgive us our trespasses”’ and “ Lead us 
not into temptation,’ but she could say it backwards without a hitch. 
When witches did not readily confess pilniwinks were screwed on 
their fingers until the blood gushed out; boots with wedges were 
tightened on their feet; their flesh was torn with red-hot pincers ; 
and their limbs were stretched on the rack. KHven King James 
himself was present at these tortures, and when a false confession 
was wrung out of the victim he felt that once more the Devil had 


By ©. R. Straton, FES. 157 


—_— 


been overcome and his agents defeated. Nothing, it was thought, 
struck terror into the fiend like a commission with plenary powers. 
The Devil often tried 'to prevent the victim from confessing under 
torture, even drying up their mouths and putting obstructions in 
their throats, but when at last they confessed enough to ensure 
their being burnt “the fiend lost much credit on these occasions.” 
The poor wretches were usually strangled by being wired to the 
stake, and burnt, but sometimes they were ordered to be “ burnt 
quick,” or alive, and their half-charred bodies, if they tried to 
escape, were pushed back into the flames. The stone blocks and 
pillars seen near towns are some of them stakes for witch-fires. In 
England alone thirty thousand lives were sacrificed by people who 
thought they were doing God a service ; but I have said enough of 
horrors, done in Christian England, in Christ’s name, and in the 
eighteenth century. 

What has brought about this change of thought and opinion in 
so short a time? Men of whose honesty there could be no doubt 
in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries were 
thoroughly convinced of the truth of witchcraft. Bishop Jewel, 
preaching before Queen Elizabeth, said “‘ Your Grace’s subjects 
pine away even unto the death, their colour fadeth, their flesh 
rotteth, their senses are bereft. I pray God they may never 
practise further than upon the subject.” Martin Luther wrote, “As 
for witches that spoil farmers’ butter and eggs, I would burn them 
all!” Lord Verulam, in England, and Lord Stair, in Scotland, 
both men of critical and philosophical minds, strongly disapproved 
of the repeal of the Acts against witchcraft. John Wesley wrote 

_ that “ giving up witchcraft was giving up the Bible.”” We do not 
so view the matter now. With the revival of learning and the 
invention of printing came a steady widening of the stream of 
knowledge, and increased study of natural and physical laws. The 
foundation of the Royal Society in London, of the Academy of 
Sciences in Paris, and of Universities gave a stimulus to the study 
_ of the exact sciences and of the phenomena of Nature. Since the 
foundation of hospitals cases that dwindle, peak, and pine may be 
_ traced to their sources; and by the establishment of asylums 


4 pt OS ee eg ene Teka * 


_— 


158 Witches’ Brooms. 


mental diseases may be observed, and many harmless imbeciles are 
now cared for there who would have been tortured to death in 
former times. The witches’ brooms, too, have lost their glamour, 
and are now traced to an insignificant gall-mite or a microscopic 
fungus. And the imps, the green man, the familiars, and the 
others :— 


“These our actors 
as I foretold you were all spirits, and 
are melted into air, into thin air.” 


[In the discussion that followed the reading of the paper Mz. Hewarp BELL 
said that the late parish clerk of Seend, who died a few years ago, an old man 
of 83, remembered as a boy an old woman being tied in the way that they used 
to tie witches and thrown into the stream in the village, and it was only by the 
timely arrival of Lord Frederick Seymour, who lived near, that the old lady was 
saved from being drowned. That happened almost within living memory, as the 
old man only died five years ago, and had often told him (Mr. Bell) the story 
himself. 

Ture BisHor remarked that from his own experience the belief in these 
superstitions bad not died out. He had reason to think that formerly the belief 
in those powers was shared by those who were reputed to practise them as well 
as by those who persecuted others, and that while some used those influences 
benevolently, they were also often the cloak for murders and other evil designs. 
The great problem was how to put an end to that kind of superstition and cruelty. 
No doubt there was a great revival of that form of belief. If they read the 
spiritualistic journals common enough in some parts of England, and especially 
in Yorkshire, they would see the revival of these superstitions in a gross form. 
The best way of treating them, perhaps, was to leave them alone. From time 
to time they saw people brought into the police courts for pretending to have 
powers they did not possess, and they were very properly fined and punished. 
If at one time a large number of people took to those nightly excursions referred 
to, though no doubt many of them were not on brooms—(laughter)—the result 
must have been demoralising, and something had to be done to check it. In the 
same way they in the present day had to consider whether they would not be obliged 
to face the revival in question. As he had already intimated, the best way, 
perhaps, was to treat it as foolish and worthless and denounce it in every possible 
way asa superstition and pretence. When those things got ahead they were rather 
difficult to deal with. He could not think that their forefathers who treated 
those things so seriously were so utterly mistaken as it was sometimes the 
fashion of this century to suppose. He had read a good many of the trials 
alluded to, and there was certainly evidence, he thought, that those persons were 
guilty of distinct crimes as well as of pretending to have powers they did not 
possess. He dared say Dr. Straton, with his larger researches, would be able to — 
confirm that view. He (the Bishop) had no doubt at all it would take very 
little to revive both the belief and the cruelty of those practices. He was 
talking the other day to a Dorset farmer who thoroughly believed in witchcraft, 


Witcheraft in Wiltshire. 159 


and who laughed at him for having doubted it. He had no doubt at all that 
the germs of superstition were still existing amongst the people of this country, 
especially in the modern form connected with Theosophy and nef'vous forms of 
belief, and he was sometimes afraid they would see a recrudescence of the old 
miserable business. | 


WITCHCRAFT IN WILTSHIRE 


It seems worth while to print as an Appendix to Dr. Straton’s 
paper the following ‘‘ Anecdotes of Witchcraft in Wiltshire,” 
contributed to the Gentleman’s Magazine for May and June, 1882, 
by “B.C. 'T.,” of Malmesbury. The original MS., in the form of 

a letter, dated Ash Wednesday, 1685-6, was apparently written by 
the justice who arrived late. He does not give his name. After 
some preliminary observations on witchcraft he proceeds as follows : 


“Tt is not possible as yet for me to set out all the Charges against the persons 

I mention now who have suffered on the accompt of Witches, there having been 
many convicted formerly before my time, and some since, of whom I onely can 
now give the names; such was John Barlowes wife, convicted of and executed 
for Witchcraft about 55 years since. Alice Elger, widow, dwelling in Westport, 
became so audaciously noxious to the good inhabitance, there being none but 
martial law then, it was about 1643; Malmesbury then being in the hands of 
the Armys ranged against the King; that the Soldiers and some of the lowest 

_ of the people did in the mercat place use her very roughly, moved by an instant 
emergent, so that shee, perhaps to avoyd the like, went home and poysoned 
herselfe, as was then beleeved, and was buried in a cross way as a felon of herself. 
“Orchard, widow, was beleeved to be a Witch universally, and was very con- 
versant with Alice Elgar, and thought to bee her Confederate about 27 years 
since; shee came to the house of Hugh Bartholomew, of Malmesbury, brewer, 
‘and finding his daughter Mary, since wife to Robert Web, not long since Alderman 
_ of Malmesbury, now deceased, about the doore, Orchard asked her for some barme 
- or yeast. Thesayd Mary, apprehending harme from her, if she should give her any, 
refused her, and sayd there was none to spare. Orchard told her there were 40 
_ hogsheads or barrels then working, but was told by the sayd Mary, there was none 
for her. She rejoyned, ‘ Then you will give me none? ’twere better for you you 
_ had; and went away muttering to herself.’ Immediately after shee was gone, a 
____ great cipress chest in which Mr.Bartholomew kept his money, being in the chamber 
over the roome where he and his company were, was lifted up and let fall, so 
that it shook the whole house ; immediately afterwards they heard great cracks, 
and the gingling of money, of which there was above 200/. as they thought, and 
as in truth it was. Mr. Bartholomew beleeved his chest had been broken, and 
his money or part of it lost, went not upp into the chamber, but followed Orchard 


160 Witchcraft in Wiltshire. 


towards her house, and being to pass thorow a large plat of ground, which is 
within the walls of the Towne, where much timber was lay’d and sawyed out, 
hee asked the sawyers if they sawe Goody Orchard goe homewards? They say’d 
they did, that shee was gone to her house a little while before. Hee cominge to 
her house, and finding the door shut, and the window-boards down, knocked at 
the door and the windows, but nobody answered ; although hee told her hee had 
six pence for her. A neybour’s wife opened the door of her house, and seeing 
Mr. Bartholomew knocking at the doore, and calling Goody Orchard by her name, 
asked laughing, whether her neybour Orchard had used or played any of her 
frolliques with him ? Hee answered she had, and that because she was refused 
barme at his house, she caused her Spirits to breake his great cyprus chest, and 
for ought he knew, to throwe about or carry away his money. 

“Goody Orchard, who it seems was harkening, hearing what hee say’d, speake 
as near as I can remember, for some are alive heard them, these words: ‘ You 
lie, you old Rogue; your Chest is not broken, the nayles are only drawn, and 
there is never a penny of your Money gone.’ He being well pleased to heare 
it was no worse, went home, and taking company with him, went into the roome, 
where he found the pinns or nayles of the Chest onely drawn, the money out of 
the bags, but none missing ; but the lock so filled with it, and some of the money 
in the lock so bent, that he was forced to cause a smith to take it off, and to pull 
it to peeces, to get out the money, and to fit it up for use. Immediately after 
Mr. Bartholomew was gone from Orchard’s house, shee packed upp what shee 
thought fit to carry with her, and left the house and towne, and was not heard 
of in 3 or 4 months; and then that shee was in Salisbury Gaole, committed 
thither for bewitching a young Mayde, a gardiner’s daughter of Burbage, about 
4 miles south or south-east of Marleboro’ ; the manner of it was thus: Early in 
the morning this goody Orchard came to the gardiner’s house; hee was one of 
those who kept great grounds of early pease, carotts, and turnips, for to serve 
mercats, and prayed his daughter, a young mayd of 17 or 18 years, then coming 
from fetching carrots to bee carried out to mercat, to give her some victuals. 
Shee, whose hands were sandy, answered ‘by her troth shee would wash her 
hands, and cut something to eat herselfe, for shee was ready to faynting, having 
been from the first daylight working hard, filting up and cleansing carrots, and 
that shee had done more than that idle Old Woman had done in a twelvemonth ; 
and after she had eated a bit or two, shee would give her some victuals.’ 

“The Mayd’s Father hearing her answere the Woman as above, sayd to her, 
cut the poore woman some bread and cheese, and let her goe about her business. 
The Mayd answered, let her staye; ‘I am so faynt, I can scarce stand on my 
leges ; I will eat a bit or two, and give her some.’ There was a garden by the 
doore near the path to it, where were walks round a grasse plot, into which 
garden the woman stepped, and neyther walking or running, she trotted about 
the garden in the walk; and when she came round it, she trotted into the middle 
of the grass plot, and squatted down there. This she did three times, muttering 
some words not understood by those present, and then trudged away as fast as 
shee could. The young Mayd having water brought her, put her hands into it to 
wash them, which she had no sooner done, but her fingers were distorted in theyr — 
joynts, one this way, another that way, and with such extreame torment, that 
shee cryed out as if one had been about to kill her, or shee had been killing, and 


eas Mee 


Witchcraft in Wiitshire. 161 


say’d, that wicked old woman had bewitched her, and preyed her father to send 
after her, and bring her back. Many horses being ready to goe out with carrots 
to the mercats, men and labourers mounte, and some one way and some another 
pursued the Woman,and the third day found her begging about twenty miles thence 
at Edington, in the Mannour House, of which Mr. Leues (Leving ?), a person not 
to bee mentioned without his due prayse of being both very prudent and very 
hospitable, dwells; to him they brought the woman. Hee having heard the 
Complaynt, and taken the information and examination, made a Mittimus for 
her to Salisbury Goale; but, on the request of the men who tooke her, hee 
suffered them to carry her back to Burbage, to the gardiner’s house, to which 
they carried her, and found the Mayd in a feaver, with the extreame torment of 
her fingers, and not having slept since it came upon her. When Orchard was 
brought to the Mayd, the Mayd charged her with bewitching her, and so did the 
rest of the persons there, and threatened her with hanging : but Orchard stood 
stoutly in it, that she was not bewitched, but that she had washed her hands in 
unwholesome water, and that wholesome water would cure her ; whereupon sume 
of the same sort of water which she washed in before, was brought, which Goody 
Orchard desiring to see, that she might judge whether it were wholesome or not, 
she put one of her fingers into it, and carried her finger so that shee made three 
circles in it contrary to the course of the Sun, and then pronounced it wholesome 
water, and bid the Mayd dip her hands in it, which the Mayd doing, her fingers 
recovered their due posture, and the extreme paynes ceased, but the tone of the 
nerves being for the present lost, her fingers had no strength in them at the time 
of the tryal, and were not without some payne. 

“The Woman was carried to Salisbury, and there convicted and executed ; 
and, to prove her a Witch, Mr. Bartholomew and divers of Malmesbury, that 
being discovered to be the place of her last abode, were bound to give evidence 
against her, which they did; for which, and for Mr. Bartholomew’s being the 
cause of her flying from Malmesbury, those dire revenges were taken upon Mrs. 
Mary Webb, his daughter, who also had denyed the yeest. I have omitted, that 
when the Hage trotted about the garden, she muttered certayne words, some of 
which the witnesses thought tobe . . 

“Jan. 16, 1685-6. The Alderman of Maleuehacy, in Wiltshire, that being 
the title of the chiefe Magistrate of that antient Borrow, sent to the Justices of 
the Peace of that subdivision of the County, to pray them to assist him in a 
discovery which was made of Witches by the voluntary confession of one Ann 
Tilling, widdowe, who had confessed to Mrs. Mary Webb, the wife of Mr. Robert 
Webb, since Alderman of that Burrow, that she Ann Tilling, — Peacock, and 
— Witchell, widow, sisters, had bewitched Thomas, the son of the above-named 
Robert Webb and Mary his wife, which Mary was the daughter of Mr. Bartholo- 
mew, whos chest was broken as in the foregoing relation, so that Thomas Webb 
above-named had very grievous fitts of swooning, sometimes three or four times 
in a day, and that he seemed to bee possest with some foreigne power betwixt 
thos fitts, so that he would curse and sweare, tell what the persons suspected to 
have harmed him were doing or saying, and often speake to them as if they or 
some of them were present, although not visible to any person uppon the place, 

“The confession of Anne Tilling was made to Mrs. Mary Webb upon this 
motion. Mrs. Webb meeting onanally. with Ann Tilling, reproached her for 


162 Witcheraft in Wiltshire. 


that, ungratefully and without provocation, shee had joined with Peacock and 
Witchell to bewitch her son, who in his fitts complayned of Tilling, Peacock, 
and Witchell, for tormenting him and doing him hurt severall ways. That her 
husband and shee (Mrs. Webb) had ever been very good friends to Ann Tilling and 
her deceased husband, and had employed them in their work, when they wanted 
work, and had been many ways uppon several occasions bountiful and beneficial 
to them, even to the preventing of their utmost necessity ; uppon which Ann 
Tilling fell downe on her knees, and beg’d Mrs. Webb’s pardon, confessing she 
had been wrought on by goody Peacock and Witchell, to agree that her son 
Thomas should be bewitched ; for which shee was very sorry, and would do 
what shee could at any time to helpe him to come out of his fitts. The boy 
continuing to have his fitts, Mr. Webb complayned to the Alderman, who having 
apprehended Ann Tilling sent to the Justices above-mentioned to have their 
assistances in the examinations of Tilling and the two others above-named. 
Ann Tilling confessed before the Alderman and 3 County Justices, that herselfe, 
persuaded by and joining with Peacock and Witchell, had harmed the boy, and 
caused those fitts, which, by the helpe of theyr spirits, they had brought upon 
him ; and that, three witches being needful to doe things of that nature, Goody 
Clark being bedrid, soe that she could not goe out with them, nor they have free 
recourse to her; they had taken her, Ann Tilling, into the first 3 in Goody 
Clark’s place ; that they had consultations often with other two threes, so that 
they were 9, about avenging themselves upon theyr enimys, and that the three 
threes had often mett since shee was admitted into the first 3; shee alsoe named 
3 or 4 men and women confederates, but not frequently conversing with them. 
That when they mett altogether, it was late at night, in some one of their 
houses; and that there and then they did eate and drink all together, and con- 
sulted of their business, which was the avenging themselves uppon theyr enimys, 
Besides the three first uppon Tilling’s confession, eleven persons, 2 men and nine 
women, were apprehended and examined, theyr examinations taken in writing, 
and mittimus making, and some made and signed, for sending them to the 
County Goale. Whilst the clerks were finishing the mittimus, another Justice 
of the Peace arrived, who had not been forward, not being perhaps very credulous 
in matters of Witchcraft at least thinking that at Malmesbury they were rarer 
than they were thought to be. He was much carressed by the Alderman and the 
3 Justices, who began to despair of his company at that time, and desired him 
to read the information and confession of Ann Tilling and also the information 
of Thomas the son of Robert Webb, which having done, and seeing 14 persons 
ready to be committed to the County Goale, he was extremely concerned at the 
precipitate proceeding of his fellow Justices, and very sadly prayed that they 
would be pleased to hear him, before they proceeded further uppon the committ- 
ment of the 14 persons then apprehended. It was agreed readily that the last 
come Justice should be heard; who thereupon moved that the room might be 
ushered, and that none should remayne but the Justices and those gentlemen of 
quality that should desire to be present with them. It was done as agreed to 
and done; some gentlemen sent for, and admitted; and an audience given 
to the last Justice, who spoke words to this purpose :— 

***Gentlemen,—I see here are apprehended and designed to be committed 
many persons, against whom by the informations which I have seen, there is 


Witchcraft in Wiiltshire. 163 


(if any) very light evidence. Gentlemen, what is done at this place, a Borough 
remote from the centre of this large county, and almost 40 miles from Salisbury, 
will be expended both by the Reverend Judges, the learned Counsayle there, 
the persons Ecclesiastique, and the Gentry of the body of the County ; so that 
if anything be done here rashly, it will be severely censured, and for ought 
I know, those against whom there is some kind of evidence, may escape in 
the crowd of such against whom I see none. Gentlemen, the mittimus’s only 
mention a general charge of suspicion of witchcraft, and that against three 
onely there is a very special charge in the informations, that is to say, 
against Tilling, Peacock, and Witchell. Truely, Gentlemen, I ever thought the 
word Witch to have a very wide extent, for as that word is used now, there 
may be such as are naturally so, at least their natures are corrupted by atrabilis, 
or something I understand not; so that theyr looks, when fixed upon a living 
object many times, destroyes it by a certain poyson, very contrary to the 
purpose of those miserable people, so that it sometimes affects their beloved 
children, but oftener theyre owne cattle, which pine away and die, to theyr 
masters’ impoverishment; as in the case of Lee of Christian Malford, who 
was, although he had a good farm, and was very laborious and diligent, by 
} the death of his own cattle, as well as those of his neighbours, which he 
fixedly looked upon, reduced to great poverty, for his lands being pasture, 
_ nobody would rent them, and his owne would pine away and dy. I did know 
7 another in the next parish to Christian Malford, ordinarily knowne by the 
- name of Snigg, whose cattle did not dye ordinarily, but would never prove so 
as to be in good liking, his wife, himselfe, his children, extremely leane, out 
‘ of proofe, as well as his horses, oxen, kowes, and hoggs; I never did know 
_ any he had fat, but a dog, which kepte himselfe in the barne amongst the 
beanes, out of sight, and had learned to eate them, so that hee was fatt. 
The truth of what I assert may be easily knowne, one of these persons having 
dwelt in this Hundred; the other, Lee, in Damerham North Hundred, in this 
sub-division. Of these unhappy people there has so much been sayd by 
phylosophers, phisitians, and poets, that there nothing remayns but to give 
our compassion to the involuntary witches, and to avoyd any neere converse 
with them. There are other Witches, for so I must call those who in their 
passion curse in the usual terms ‘The Divell take you or him!’ ‘ The Divell 
break you or his neck!’ This is an invocation of the Divell; and truly their 
ignorance cannot well excuse them from being Witches, by their inadvertency, 
for they misprice the invocation of the Divell. There are others who deal in 
charmes, who have never made any explicit contract, but are by others’ con- 
tract, perhaps made many generations past, of which they are ignorant, but 
have by tradition some conditions annext to the charme, as in the case of 
Mr. brander, who did wear a charme for an ague, and was advised to take 
“care of water, whilst he wore that charm, he having very narrowly spared 
drowning in a mill-pound of his owne, not far from his house, was some few 
At P] after with Mr. Curtis crossing the Thames from Chemsford [Kemps- 
- ford], in the night to the Wiltshire side, where he dwelt. At the landing of the 
, boate, both himself and Mr. Curtis were mis’d; and upon search two or three 
days after, taken up crooks (sic) from under some willows which hung down into 
he water. The thing is so well knowne, I need say no more of it. Probably the 


164 Witchcraft in Wiiltshire. 


woman was ignorantly a Witch, acting by a precedent contract, which might be 
unknowne to her. The last, and such as deserve the highest punishments, are 
those who are entered into an explicitt contract with some uncleane spirits, and 
have had knowingly and willingly conference with such spirits, and are taught 
by those spirits to hurt man or beast; if beasts are hurt by Witchcraft, and the 
author proved to. be so, it is pilloring in 4 townes of the county, and actionable 
at law, for the first offence: but if any of the King’s subjects be by those means 
kill’d, maym’d, or pyned, it is felony, without benefit of Clergy, for the first 
offence, and this is the charge against Peacock, Tilling, and Witchell. But I 
see not cleer evidence against Peacock or Witchell. The boyes information I 
think should have little streese put on it, for eyther he is an imposter, or indeed 
he is agitated by some foreigne or external power. If he imposes on us who 
are antient and should be prudent, it will be our perpetuall shame, that a boy of 
12 years old should not be discovered to impose on us; but if his fitts are not 
fayned, they must be effected by some spiritual foreigne power, and that power 
must be of light or darkness; that it is not of light, is as clear as he speaks in 
another tone and other words then hee was ever heard to speeke, when he was or 
is well; hee reviles his father and mother, swears and curses and blasphemes 
God, which he was never observed to doe formerly ; which deportment shows by 
whom hee is actuated; and truly if in such fitts he accuses any person I think 
hee is not greatly to be heeded, for as much as those murderers are likelyer to 
destroy the innoceut than their own confederates the nocent. As for Ann 
Tilling’s evidence against herselfe, Peacock, and Witchell, it may, for ought I 
yet see, bee a confederacy with the boyes parents, who are sayd to be ever good 
to her, to bring in Peacocke and Witchell, who are women of very bad fame, and 
terrible to the people. Peacocke having been lately acquitted at Salisbury upon 
a trial for Witchcraft, and proceeding boldly since as is sayd upon confidence, 
nobody will eyther be at the charge to prosecute her, or run the hazard of 
her revenge, if shee shall be acquitted, or of her confederates, if she is found 
guilty, except such a person as this Mr. Webb is reported to be, for him I doe 
not know there. I would persuade that the boy be very well observed ; and 
Tilling examined at several times, and with prudence, to observe whether she 
alters her confession or information.’ 

“The Alderman and the three other Justices approved what the last-come 
Justice had proposed, and desired him earnestly to propose some methode for 
their proceeding. Hee sayd his opinion was, that the eleven persons then in 
custody should be set at liberty, and that Pocock, Witchell, and Tilling should 
be retayned in restraint, but by no means to be ill used, or any tryals made on 
their persons, as had been so usual in the lately passed times; and alsoe hee 
thought it might be a safe course for the Justices to send immediately for 2 or 
more of the ablest Divines in those parts, to confer with Tilling and the other 2.” 


Dr. Straton is no doubt right in his assertion that the belief in 
witchcraft has died out—or almost died out—in Wiltshire ; certainly 
it has in the north of the county, where we are stolid unimaginative 
people, with very small tincture of either poetry, romance, or super- 
stition in our natures, and doubtless in comparison with many other 


Witcheraft in Wiltshire. 165 


parts of England we have always been so; but in Somerset, Dorset, 
and Devon, where the Celtic strain in the blood of the people is 
probably much stronger than it is in Wiltshire, the belief in 
witchcraft, in the evil eye, and in “ overlooking,” is, as the Bishop 
pointed out, very much alive still, as anyone may see for himself, 
as far as Somerset is concerned, in the pages of Elworthy’s “ Evil 
Eye.” As regards Dorset I am enabled on the authority of the 
Rev. W. H. Dalison, Vicar of Pydeltrenthide, near Dorchester, to 
give the following very recent instances of the prevalence of the 
belief. In that parish there lived less than ten years ago an old 
woman who was commonly reputed to be a witch, named Harriett 
Bollen. An old man now living being firmly convinced that she 
had “ overlooked ’’ her son and caused the illness of which he died, 
determined to pay her back in her own coin. He therefore got a 
bullock’s heart, tanned it, stuck it full of nails, and told her that she 
_ would be burnt as a witch. She laughed at him, but on the 3rd 
_ January, 1888, she was found burnt to death in her cottage, having, 
it is supposed, fallen into the fire in a fit. The old man, however, 
not unnaturally looks on the bullock’s heart, &c., as having com- 
_ passed the vengeance he desired, and he himself is the authority 
for the story. Another inhabitant of the village—Silas Bellinger— 
: is still (March 24th, 1897) under the firm conviction that his wife 
was overlooked. He did all in his power to induce the witch to 
F take off the spell, and at last she relented, and took it off, but said 
_ she was afraid it was too late—and so it proved, for the woman 
- died a day or two afterwards. There is also another old woman 
- much dreaded by the people as a witch, though my informant does 
_ not think that she has really practised the art. 


Ep. H. Gopparp. 


¥ 
2 


166 


Excavation of a Homan GHell neae Silburp Hill 


July and October, 1896. 


By J. W. Brooxg and B. Howarp Cunnineton, F.S.A. Scot. 


waq@OR many years past the tenant of the farm near Silbury 
S Q Hill on the south side of the Bath Road, noticed that at a 


particular spot close to the hedge which borders the road 
the soil subsided every year in spite of the fact that the hole was 
continually filled up—in fact, many cartloads of refuse had from 
time to time been put in to make this part of the field level. 

This continual subsidence led the present tenant—Mr. Arnold, 
of West Kennet—to believe there must be a disused well at the 
spot, and he kindly gave us permission to excavate it. 

The well is situated about 150 yards south-south-west of Silbury 
Hill, and between the Roman Road and the present highway. It 
is also about 50 yards east of the well excavated by Mr. William 
Cunnington and the late Mr. Henry Cunnington in 1882-3. 

The ground slopes from the west towards the River Kennet, and 
the well is about 40 yards west of the river. 


1 Explanation of accompanying map, traced from the Ordnance 6in. Survey. 


A Well opened by Messrs. B. H. Cunnington and J. W. Brooke, 1896. 

B Well opened by Mr. W. Cunnington and the late Mr. H. Cunnington in 
1882-3. The position of this well is taken from “ Smith's Antiquities 
of North Wilts,” and is not clearly located. 

CG Well that has been in use within living memory, and may be modern. 

DD Position of wells unexplored. 

E A kitchen-midden was opened here by the Rev. A. C. Smith, a description of 
which appears in his Antiquities of North Wilts. 

F A kitchen-midden was opened here by Mr. J. W. Brooke, an account of 
which appears in the Marlborough College Natural History Report, 
1888. 


eu Dessvce ATTN) 
MOL wy 


a 
= ” ; i 
Sel a ee Bet Sa ae a, Bousle poaG mojpone i 
Peet | eee ag f : ; 


1 


ae 


Ss ete. an -sst* 


959M, 


6G “66 Jj ae 


uopprm=neyrny 2! 


_{P2AUIMVBXIUN S7]2IM OQ: 


~" fuanguay s1yz poesn« 9: 
-segy tt 
968/ peuaclo nym V | 


Y 3 . ~ 


Sy 
wD) 
NS 
22 FS 


Excavation of a Roman Well near Silbury Hill. 167 


With the willing assistance of Mr. Arnold (the tenant), Mr. 
Willis, Sen., and Mr. Willis, Jun., of Beckhampton, and Mr. 
Brown, of Avebury, we began work on the morning of July 14th, 
1896, and by 6 o’clock that evening had excavated to the depth of 
13ft. Almost from the beginning of the work “finds,” such as 
fragments of Romano-British and other pottery and flint flakes, 
were continually coming to hand. These were, however, un- 
doubtedly in the material used for filling up the well in recent 
times. 

At about 6ft. from the surface the well assumed somewhat of an 
oval form, and having by this time removed the greater part of 
the material used to fill in the subsidence of recent years many 
specimens of Roman and Romano-British pottery, both red and 
black, iron nails, local red ware, and oyster and snail shells were 
found. 

At a distance of 8ft. from the top a small bronze finger ring was 
discovered, which was quickly followed by a small bronze “ steel- 
yard,’ one end of which is complete and the centre balance ring 
and a remnant of bronze wire which supported the counterpoise 

intact. Only one small coin of bronze was found during the day, 
but another was discovered on the following day. These Sir John 
Evans has kindly identified, stating them to be of Arcadius, 383— 
395 A.D., and Theodosius II., 408—450 A.D. 

During the next 3ft. nothing of importance was met with, but 
at about 16ft. from the surface we found a beautiful specimen of a 
red deer horn pick, and at about the same place several broken 
fragments of deer antlers, but in too crushed a condition to allow 
_ of any conjecture as to their having been utilised as picks. 

About the same time a curious piece of antler, about 6in. long, 
tapering to a point, was discovered. This shows signs of having 
been rubbed, pointed, or polished, and Mr. William Cunnington, 
to whom it was shown, says ‘‘ It is no doubt one of the crown tines 
of red deer, but whether the smooth point is all man’s work or 
mostly done by the deer it is difficult to say. That it has been cut 
by man is apparent. It could not have been used as a pick from 
its position on the horn.” 

“VOL, XXIX.—NO. LXXXVII. N 


168 Excavation of a Roman Well near Silbury Hill. 


A fragment of the “nether”’ stone of a quern, completely worn 
through, a large double hook of iron (such ag is now used in 
butchers’ shops), together with several pieces of red brick tiles, 
were also found. It may be noted in passing that broken tiles of 
a similar character are to be found freely strewn over the surface of 
the field in which the well is situated. Several large sarsen stones 
and flints were taken out, some of the former no doubt forming the 
steining of the well. One stone in particular had a round hole 
about 1}in. in diameter bored through it, having been worked from 
both sides. This appears to have been used as one of the supports 
for the windlass. 

On the second day we came upon some large sarsen stones, 
weighing several hundredweights each. These greatly retarded 
progress, as they had first to be securely lashed with ropes, and for 
safety the workers in the well had to climb out before the stones 
could be raised. Each stone was in turn hauled to the surface, one 
of them—the largest—requiring the combined efforts of seven men 
and four of the Marlborough College students to land it on terra 
Jirma. Immediately beneath these stones we came upon water, 
and after a short while further progress was found to be impossible. 
Among the principal finds of this day’s work were the second 
bronze coin already mentioned, three massive Romano-British 
pitcher handles, one blade of a species of shears, a small iron stylus 
with its flattened end in good preservation, and the teeth of horse, 
fox, pig, &e. 

On leaving off work the total depth excavated was 193ft., 2ft. of 
which was filled with water. 

On the third day we fixed up a hand-pump with a 2in. suction 
pipe, and, although our first efforts were fairly successful and the 
depth of water was reduced a few inches, it soon began to run in as 


fast as we could pump it out. Finding our efforts in this direction 


useless we gave up pumping, and all our exertions were devoted to 


raising some of the large sarsen stones, which we succeeded in — 
doing. After clearing out a few bucketsfull of loose rubbish, the — 
water remaining about 2ft. deep, we raised some more large stones, 


two of which showed evident signs of having been cut and squared, 


2 


; 
: 
i 


By J. W. Brooke and B, Howard Cunnington, F.S.A. Scot. 169 


doubtless having originally formed part of the steining of the well. 
Local inhabitants told us that the water in the neighbouring 
springs would by the end of September be several feet lower than 
at present, so we decided to cover over the mouth of the well with 
planks and leave it until then. During the day several visitors 
inspected the work and “ finds,’ amongst whom were the Rev. C. 
W. Hony, of Bishops Cannings, and Mr. Napier, agent for the 
estate. After leaving off work for the day we noticed what appears 
_ to be another well, about 200 yards eastward of the one upon which 
| we were engaged. This, including the well by the roadside at the 
foot of Silbury Hill, and another one pointed out by Mr. Kemm, of 
Avebury, on the eastern side of Silbury Hill, makes five within a 
radius of about 150 yards. 
_ Owing to the abnormally dry summer the springs in the neigh- 
_ bourhood were, by the end of September, lower than they had been 
‘known to be during the last fifty years, and consequently, on in- 
 specting the well on October 5th, we found that the water had 
completely subsided. We erected a tripod 17ft. high over the 
- mouth, and by means of pulley-blocks and ropes attached were able 
to bring up eleven large boulders, which, like the others already 
taken out, formed no doubt part of the steining. In spite of most 
inclement weather—heavy rain and hail storms—several visitors 
‘came to see how things were going on. During the day a depth 
of a little over 20ft. was reached, but still no water was found. 
} The next day, in the thick of a south-westerly gale, we resumed 


work, and raised three more large boulders weighing three or four 
_hundredweight each, and after excavating another 2ft. of loose 
rubble we were able, by means of an iron rod to feel what we 
believed to be the bottom. 
_ Three immense sarsen stones, weighing upwards of half-a-ton 
each completely blocked our way, the appliances at hand not being 
‘sufficiently strong to raise them to the surface. A piece of Bath 
stone—apparently part of a pillar—measuring Yin. in diameter and 
about 12in. high, and a few pieces of pottery, were all the “ finds” 
of this day. 
Having obtained efficient pulley appliances we resumed work on 
N 2 


170 Excavation of a Roman Well near Silbury Hill. 


October 9th, and the three large sarsens were safely raised to the 
surface. Beneath them was a flat stone somewhat circular in shape 
and about 8in. thick. This nearly filled up the well, which had 
been gradually decreasing in circumference and now measured 
about 4ft. in diameter. About lft. above this stone was a crevice 
in the chalk about 12in. or 14in. in length and averaging 3in. in 
width, which to all appearance was the mouth of the spring which 
supplied the well. When the stone above-mentioned was brought 
to the surface stagnant water was found, and the total depth 
excavated was 26ft. This water was about lft. deep, and beneath 
it was a large flat stone with a hole in its centre, completely filling 
up the bottom of the well. This stone appeared to be the corres- 
ponding one to that which was raised earlier in the work, and 
which also had a hole through it, the two together evidently having 
formed the supports to the windlass. 

Owing to its position we were unable to raise this stone, but by 
digging away a little on one side, and so getting below it, we 
found a layer—about 2in. deep—of fine grey mud, beneath which, 
to the extent of about 18in., was what had every appearance of 
being the puddling, or artificial bottom, of the well. This puddling 
was composed of a fine chalky clay, chalk marl, and finely-crushed 
flints. It was now unanimously resolved that the bottom of the 
well had been reached, and that further excavation would be useless. 
Amongst the “ finds” of the day were a few pieces of grey Romano- ~ 
British pottery and a few tiles, that may have formed part of the 3 
roofing of the well. i 

General Pitt-Rivers has kindly examined some typical pieces of — 
the pottery, and says “I have identified the pottery as far as : 
possible, and think there can be little doubt as to the Romano- — 
British quality of nearly all of it, probably all of it.” 

Judging from the small deposit of black-grey mud, the well could — 
only have been in use a comparatively short time, and must have been 
soon filled up, and from the late date of the coins found one must 
conclude that it was made at a late period of the Roman occupation. 
Taking into consideration the number of wells within such a small 
radius, and so close to the Roman Road, it has been suggested by 


The Bristol High Cross at Stourhead, Wilts. 171 


an eminent archeologist who is familiar with the district that this 
spot may very likely have been a halting-place for troops on the 
march from one station to another. So far as the spot has yet 
been investigated the remains found are not such as would lead to the 
supposition of this having been the site of a permanent settlement. 
q _ The various articles found have been placed in the Society’s 
Museum at Devizes. 
In conclusion we wish, on the part of the Society, to accord their 
_ thanks to Mr. Arnold for so kindly supplying us with appliances 
and able assistance, as well as to the Rev. W. H. Davis, Vicar of 
_ Avebury and Mr. Willis and his family, who in many substantial 
ways showed their interest in the work. 
This article would not be complete without placing on record the 
_ yaluable services rendered by William Coleman, of Avebury, road 
_ foreman. His untiring energies and valuable experience con- 
tributed in no small degree to the success of the undertaking. 


The — High Cross at Stourhead, Wilts.’ 
By C. E. Ponrine, F.S.A. 


6 HE recent repair of this structure seems to mark an epoch in 
k its history, at which it may be interesting to recall the 
my vicissitudes through which it has passed, and to publish a 


1 This paper is also printed in the current number of the Proceedings of the 
Clifton Antiquarian Club. 


172 The Bristol High Oross at Stourhead, Wilts. 


somewhat fuller technical description than 


“fs appears to have been previously done. 
imu Se The Cross was first erected in 1378, at the 
p i intersection of the four principal streets of 
34 Bristol (where a former “ High Cross ”’ stood, 
=e t. 4 as mentioned in a MS. Calendar of 1247) to 
ae hs : commemorate the separation of Bristol from 
F { Gloucester, by a charter granted to the bur- 


gesses by Edward III! By comparing it 
with the Eleanor Crosses, and by the light of 
documentary evidence which exists as to the 
1. J missing parts of these, as well as with other 
a erections more nearly its contemporaries, we 
| can arrive at a very good idea of what the 


: | 
| l: Bristol Cross was at that time. It consisted 
“a ‘i of a bench-table forming a seat, and possibly 
ie n il two or three steps (all of which were probably 
wos wi 


| pared off by degrees as the demand on the 
space around increased) on which stood the 
lower stage A (see hey diagram) which was 
square on plan, and, unlike the existing 


Cepepone ee . 
ppt? tamer, 1__ Kleanor Crosses which had the lower stage 


solid, was open, and formed by four piers, 
each composed of a diagonal buttress with attached shafts, and a 
central shaft supporting an elaborately groined canopy, with a 
cusped arch surmounted by crocketted pediment and finial on each 
of the four sides. 


Above this was a base of tabernacle work (B) of sufficient height 
to lift the statues above the finials of the pediments in front of 
them, with a central core and corbels for the figures; the diagonal 
buttresses of the lower stage being continued up past it and sur- 
mounted by crocketted finials. This base supports the stage of 
effigies (C) which is the raison d’étre of the design. Pooley, in 
his Crosses of Gloucestershire, published in 1868 (his information 


1 Barrett’s History of Bristol (1789), p. 473. 


By C. E. Ponting, FSA. 173 


being apparently gleaned chiefly from Barrett’s History of Bristol, 
referred to above), describes these effigies and their positions as 
follows :— 

“Tn the niches which occupied the different stages were placed 
well-sculptured statues of those kings who had been benefactors to 
the city. 

“That of King John was placed northward, fronting Broad 
Street. He gave the city the first and very extensive charter of 
privileges, especially all the void ground on the banks of the rivers, 
thereby to amend the town by building. 

“That of King Henry III. was fixed fronting Wine Street, 
eastward. He confirmed Henry IT.’s charter that established it a 
mayor-town, and also that of King John, and joined Redcliffe to 
Bristol, making it one corporate town. 

“That of King Edward III. was fixed facing Corn Street, west- 
ward; and 

“That of King Edward IV. was added afterwards to the other 
three figures, and placed to front High Street, southward.” } 

It seems, however, improbable that the Cross would have been 
left with only three figures, and it is more reasonable to suppose 
that the fourth represents some other king, possibly Edward II. 

These effigies had their backs against a central shaft, and were 
divided by angle shafts supporting the canopies (D), diagonally 
with which were detached pinnacles with crocketted terminals, 
connected to the shafts by flying buttresses. Each of the canopies 
(as also of the bases of the figures) was a semi-octagon on plan, 
projecting from the side of a square, of which the shafts formed 
the angles; they were richly traceried and crocketted, and groined 
underneath. 

We have no material evidence of the work which was erected 
above this in 1373, but by drawing a parallel from the entries in 


‘In the ancient manuscript preserved in Bristol, known as “The Mayor's 


_ Kalendar,” written by Robert Ricart, who was elected Town Clerk of Bristol 
18th Edward IV. (A.D. 1479), it is recorded, under the date 1491 :— 


“The High Crosse was peynted & gilt, which cost xx", This yer the King 


was in Bristow,” &c. 


174 The Bristol High Cross at Stourhead, Wilts. 


the original rolls, temp. Edward I., still preserved in the Public 
Record Office, referring to the Eleanor Crosses (the terms there 
employed being quoted here in brackets) we may conclude that 
there was an octagonal base supporting a shaft or column (variously 
termed “ virga,” ‘“‘fléche,” “lancea,’”’) surmounted by a head 
(“capitis”) with small figures contained within niches. This part, 
the figures within which would have had a religious meaning, one 
of them probably being a crucifix, was doubtless, as in the case of 
many other crosses, destroyed in the religious troubles of the latter 
half of the sixteenth century. 

In 1633, as Pooley says, “some repairs being necessary ” 
(probably as a result of the injuries last referred to), very important 
additions were made to the Cross, at a cost of £207. These con- 
sisted of another tier of four effigies with canopies (HZ) on which 
was a stage of four pairs of cherubs (IF) supporting shields, with a 
kind of canopy over each; on this was a panelled base (GQ) square 
on plan, supporting a tapered spirelet (H), on each side of which 
was a head in low relief, carved at mid-height, a similar head at 
the top supporting the finial, and an angel in a sitting posture 
below both; the spirelet being surrounded by eight crocketted 
pinnacles, carried up from the base, and having carved crockets up 
the angles and a carved finial, surmounted by a copper cross—the 
whole height being raised to 48ft.! This alteration was effected 
with great skill and judgment, and without any dwarfing effect on 
the scale of the earlier work—one specially clever feature being 
that, to keep the added figures in due proportion, they are seated, 
whereas the earlier ones are standing. They represented later 
sovereigns who had either granted or confirmed charters to Bristol. 

“That of King Henry VI., which was placed in a new niche, 
eastward. He granted and confirmed all the charters of his pre- 
decessors. 

“That of Queen Elizabeth, which was placed westward. She 
also had confirmed the charters. 


1 This is taken from the actual work as re-erected at Stourhead. Pooley gives 
it as 39ft, Gin. 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 175 


“That of King James I., who had renewed the charters, which 

was placed southward ; and 

. “That of King Charles I., which was placed northward. He 
granted a new charter, and sold the castle and its dependencies to 
the city, which, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, was 
before out of the mayor’s jurisdiction.” } 

It is interesting to compare the Carolian Gothic work, intermixed 
as it is with contemporary ornaments, with the beautiful detail of 
the fourteenth century work. The structure was further enriched 
at this time by colour and gilding, and this was repeated in 1697, 
“in such a costly manner that no cross in the kingdom is said to 
have exceeded it.” } 

‘Pooley goes on to say :—‘‘ Just thirty-six years after its restora- 
tion, in 1733, it was removed at the instance of a silversmith living 
near, who was frightened lest the Cross should fall and crush him, 
and thrown by in the Guildhall as a thing of no value, until at 
length it was rescued from oblivion by Alderman Price and a few 
other gentlemen, and, with the approbation of the Dean and 
Chapter, re-erected in the centre of College Green, a spot consecrated 
by the labours of Jordan, a co-missionary of 8. Augustine, who 
there first preached Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons more than a 
thousand years before.” 

In 1763, “it was at length found that this beautiful structure, 
by intersecting one of the walks, interrupted gentlemen and ladies 
from walking eight or ten abreast,” and on this poor excuse the 
Cross was again taken down and the stones laid by in a corner of 
the Cathedral, where they lay for some time until Dean Barton 
gaye them to Mr. Henry Hoare, of Stourton, who, in the month of 
August, 1766, removed them to his seat of Stourhead, and proceeded 
_ to re-erect the Cross on the spot it now occupies at a cost of £300. 
; Pooley states that his son, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, carried out this 
work, but, as he was not born until 9th December, 1758, this is an 
error; moreover, Barrett expressly mentions “ If. Hoar.’’ The 


1 Pooley’s “ Orosses of Gloucestershire,” p. 6. 
' Barrett’s Bristol. 


176 The Bristol High Cross™at Stourhead, Wiits. 


wide reputation of Sir R. C. Hoare has overshadowed the con- 
siderable antiquarian tastes and capabilities of his father, as evinced 
in this and the similar work of removing to Stourhead, in 1765, 
the building known as S. Peter’s Pump, from the south-west corner 
of Peter Street, Bristol (where it, in 1633, superseded the ancient 
openwork cross erected by Spencer, Mayor of Bristol, in 1474). 
This he erected about a mile higher up the valley at the extreme 
source of the Stour. It is not recorded how these two relics came 
to be presented to Mr. Hoare; the fact proves that his influence at 
Bristol was considerable. 

The stone used, both in the work of 1373 and that of 1633, is a 
Bath oolite—apparently from Combe Down. In the rebuilding 
Mr. Hoare substituted a large core of Chilmark stone for the 
original central shaft of the lower open stage, presumably for 
increased stability. Unfortunately, in his zeal to still further 
strengthen the structure, he made the great mistake of freely 
employing von for dowels, cramps, and tie-rods; a central rod of 
iron being carried up through the core of the upper stage and the 
spirelet. This had the most disastrous results, the stone becoming 
split and fractured in all directions from the expansion of the iron 
by oxidation ; this, together with the fall of a tree against the 
Cross in recent times, had rendered the condition of the fabric 
most perilous, and many of the more delicate portions had become 
lost. At the time when the fall of the Cross appeared to be immi- 
nent Sir H. H. A. Hoare succeeded to the Stourhead estate (July, 
1894), and one of his first acts of ownership was to take steps to 
ascertain its condition and render it secure. The work was placed 
under the care of the writer, who had examined the Cross from a 
scaffold prepared for the purpose, and its execution was entrusted 
to Messrs. Hems & Sons, of Exeter. 

The Cross was strongly shored and supported by iron girders, 
resting on concrete foundations, and the stonework was preserved 
intact, as far as possible; but it was found absolutely necessary to 
rebuild it from the point D upwards; this was done stone for stone 
as it originally existed, and the remainder carefully repaired, and 
copper cramps substituted for iron. 


By C. E. Ponting, F.S.A. 177 


The following extract from the architect’s report indicates the 
spirit in which the work has been carried out :— 

“Tt is of the greatest importance that this beautiful and historical 
specimen of the work of two periods of architecture—wholly 
distinct, but both equally interesting—should be handled with the 
greatest care, and irrevocable injury might be done to it by careless 
or unsympathetic treatment. The old stonework should be pre- 
served intact wherever sound, however small may be the fragments ; 
all loose parts should be re-set, and all the old fragments which 
can be found restored to their original positions. Any renewals 
should be made with a faithful regard to the spirit of the old work, 
and they should be confined to the separate features which have 
been broken off and have disappeared as described in detail above, 
and on no account should old stonework be interfered with, because 
it is weatherworn or decayed on the surface, so long as it is capable 
of fulfilling its purpose in supporting the fabric, and the greatest 
care must be observed in repairing it not to scratch the original 
surface.” 

A great point was made of preserving Mr. Hoare’s central core 
of the lower stage intact, as evidence of that period of the history 
of the Cross, rather than carry out a conjectural restoration of the 
central shaft. 

The view accompanying this is reproduced from a photograph 
taken in January, 1895, immediately on the completion of the 
work. 


178 


Short Motes. 


Stonehenge. The origin of the “ Foreign” stones. Professor T. G. 
Bonney has favoured us by a critical examination of the microscopical 
slides of the Stonehenge rocks in my possession, with special regard to the 
supposition that they have been derived from the Channel Islands. The 
result is entirely opposed to this idea. Speaking of the Rhyolite, specimen 
No. 51, Professor Bonney says “it is modified by pressure, and this would 
exclude such a rock from the Channel Islands.”’ Of the calcareous tuffs (or 
schists) he remarks that they are much altered by pressure. In conclusion 
he says “I may venture to say that none of these rocks came from the 
Channel Islands.” 

W. CunNINGTON. 


Stonehenge. Discovery of the S.W. Pointer. Mr. Albert Dawes, in 
“An Essay on Division of the Heavens, Zodiacal and Mundane Aspects, and 
Directions,’ in The Astrologer, Jan. and Feb., 1890, discourses astro- 
logically on Stonehenge, and gives two plans—one of them a “ Key Plan of 
Trilithons, Altar, Inner Oval, &c., representing ¢welve Solar Months, and 
with Arch Druid’s Stone, thirteen Lunar Months.” In this plan he shows 
seven trilithons (two of them being small ones). The second is an adaptation 
of Smith’s plan, published in 1771, and is chiefly interesting as showing 
a “stone discovered by A. Dawes.” As to this the author says:—“ On 
writing to Mr. Judd [the “ guardian” of Stonehenge], asking him to kindly 
search in the S.W., he did so, and informed me that he had found the base 
of a stone about a foot under the surface, and in a letter to me he says, ‘I 
find that the base is still in the earth about one foot under the surface, and 
is situated about 51 degrees West of South.’ ”’ 

This stone is apparently just inside the earth circle, and, according to 
Mr. Dawes, marks the sunset at the winter solstice. It was unknown to 
Petrie when he made his plans, and if its existence is absolutely confirmed 
its discoverer has a right to say “I think I may claim some little credit for 
this most important discovery.” 


Stonehenge. Letter from Mr. James Douglas to Mr. Cunnington, 
1809-10. (Communicated by Mr. W. Cunnington.) 


* Barnham, near Bognor, 7th Nov., 1809. 

“My Dear Sip, 
“In my letter in answer to a query, I said something about Stonehenge 
which I should be happy to communicate to you, but I feel diffident of 
advancing any new matter,being conscious that yourself and SirRichard Hoare 


Short Notes. 179 


must have obtained every relative argument on its history ; however I have 
ventured to hazard an opinion that the Bethyle or stone of adoration, situated 
without the cespetitious or grass circle, was the primary erection, to which 
the temple was dedicated ; the stone in the first place to the pure worship 
of the Deity and the temple afterwards to the Mithraic, or fire worship ; 
and therefore considered justly by Stukeley as a temple to the Sun, especially 
as the adytum is certainly open to the Eastern quarter. Sammes who wrote 
before Stukeley is right in his conjecture of its being of Pheenician origin, 
erected to their celebrated Hercules, whose rites were symbolic of the Sun 
and therefore this Deity [is] represented as looking through chinks or 
crevises with this motto OMNIA VIDENS. Both Greek and Roman authority 
assert the existence of his pillars at Cades; doubtless a structure of unhewn 
stone; and his representation of leaning on a club is only a vulgar perversion 
of his real history by the ignorant Greek writers, who had assimilated the 
mythology of all nations to theirs and by their national vanity, confounded 
and perplexed the real history of their progenitors. Holingshed, in his 
chronicle of Scotland, has this curious entry in the life of King Mamius ; 
I shall here transcribe it for your perusal as an argument to prove that the 
writers of the Scottish history from whom he quotes always considered these 
cirques of unhewn stones of a far remoter period than the succeeding writers 
in Charles’s days. 

“* Mamius King of Scotland upon a religious devotion towards the Goddes, 
having an assured belief, that without their favour all worldly policies were 
but vain, devysed sundrie partes of his dominions to be appoynted out, and 
compassed about with great huge stones round lyke a ring, but towards 
the south was one mightie stone farre greater than all the rest, pitched 
up im manner of an aulter, whereon (at which) their priests might make 
their sacrifices in honour of their Goddes. In witness of the thing there 
remayneth unto this day certaine of those greate stones standing round, 
ring-wise (vid: Rolrick stones) which places are called by the common 
people the old Chapels of the Goddes. A man would marvel by what shift, 
policy or strength such mightie stones were raised in that manner.’ 

“N.B.—This king according to Harrison and Boethius florished about 
three hundred years before Christ. 

“Tf not tired with my antiquarian gossip, I shall venture on another 
remark. Had Stonehenge been of Druid origin or even afterwards conse- 
crated to their rites, the Romans under Claudius and the succeeding 
emperors, who abolished their rites and supprest their convocations, would 
most assuredly have overthrown the Temple of Stonehenge. The absurd 
idea that has been started of its being erected after their times, from its not 
being mentioned in their writings by Tacitus or Dio, may be satisfactorily 
answered with this remark ; that these erections or similar cirques of the 
Eastern colonizers were common in all the northern regions which they 
overran; (nor do I think they were dilapidated before the Christian era ;) 
and which the Romans held sacred to the Gods of those nations whom they 
conquered. In my letter to Mr. Coxe I mentioned the prostrate stone just 
opposite the Bethyle and close within. the outward circle. This puzzled 
Stukeley, who ascribed it to an altar stone. I think this probable, but not 


180 


Mr. 


Short Notes. 


an altar stone to the temple, but to the single obeliscal stone or Bethyle ; 
at all events from the methodical position of it, it is worthy of being raised ; 
for if it had been originally erect! there might be a possibility of its being 
laid prostrate for some sepulchral purpose; and therefore some funereal 
relics might be found under it Pye iat 


James Douglas to Mr. Cunnington, March 16th, 1810 :— 
“In page 131 of my Nenia I made a very incautious and unhandsome 
remark on the father of our British antiquities, the learned and ingenious 
Dr. Stukeley ; for whose memory I entertain a great regard, notwithstanding 
the fastidious criticism of many superficial modern antiquaries. It was on 
a Barrow which -my imprudent remark was hazarded, north of Stonehenge 
in the group south of the cursus. What he calls a double barrow, one of 
which contained the skeleton of a man, and the smaller one, the urn, burnt 
bones, and a considerable number of beads and other articles of a young 
female, which he engraved in Pl. xxxii. of his Stonehenge, now before me. 
The relics in question, which I had never seen but by the engraving, made 
me incautiously apply them to the order of my lower barrows; in which, 
having found beads of glass and amber of the shape he described, inclined 
me to suppose them of a coeval date; but by the same kind of beads in your 
possession of the “pully” fashion and the verditer opaque glass which I 
saw, I have no doubt now, of their British period, of a high date, and which 
the bronze spear head found in the same barrow ought to have convinced 
me of. You thus perceive, my dear Sir, that error is the common fate of 
short-sighted man.” 

[The beads of “ pully” fashion, mentioned above, are the long notched 
glass beads of which we have several in the Museum.—Ep.] 


Stonehenge. Excavations at, 1801. The following passage occurs in a 


letter from Mr. Cunnington to Mr. Leman, of Bath, dated Heytesbury, 
1801 :—“I have this summer dug in several places in the area and neigh- 
bourhood of Stonehenge and particularly at the foot of the ‘altar,’ where I 
dug to the depth of five feet or more, and found charred wood, animal 
bones and pottery, of the latter there were several pieces similar to the 
rude urns found in the Barrows, also some pieces of Roman pottery. In 
several places I found stag’s horns.” 
W. Cunnineron, 


Stonehenge. It appears that the mystery which has so long surrounded 


Stonehenge has been solved at Jast! So at least says “ Dr. Berks Hutchinson, 
of Cape Town, S. Africa,” who advertises in the Southampton Observer of 
April 3rd, 1897, a Stonehenge Exhibition at 69, Waterloo Place, Southamp- 
ton, admission one shilling, in which all “Archzologists, Freemasons, 
Master Mariners, Astronomers, &c., will find food for reflection.” ‘‘ Stone- 
henge is a veritable relic of an ancient British Royal Arch (Israelitish) 


1 Mr. Cunnington’s answer to this part of the letter is printed in Wilts Arch, 
Magq., xxiv., 129. 


Short Notes. 181 


Masonic Temple, B.C. 1500.” “The Doctor, we understand,” says the 
Southampton Observer, “is a veteran and enthusiastic Freemason, and 
considers that the key to ancient Masonry which had been lost for so 
many centuries, has veritably been discovered by himself in England’s 
greatest archeological gem ; the wonder and mystery of past ages—Stone- 
henge.” 


Pre-Roman Interment at Tilshead. As a man named Rolfe Kyte was, 
in March, 1897, enlarging a pit near the village of Tilshead, he struck his 
pick into a human skull, and on trying to remove the earth and stones 
brought up the leg bones. I visited the place soon after the discovery of 
the skeleton, and found that it had lain in a pit about lft. 6in. deep by 
2ft. Gin. long and lft. 6in. wide. I could find no trace of pottery or worked 
flints or anything else accompanying the interment, which, from what the 
finder told me, appears to have been in the contracted posture—the legs 
drawn up over the body, and an arm across it, the whole covered with very 
large flints. The skull and the bones were small, and the sutures of the 


former had come apart. 
C. V. Gopparp. 


Bronze Torques from the Duke Collection, In the note on the sale of 
the Duke Collection of Antiquities, Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xxviii., p. 261, 
the larger of the bronze torques then sold was erroneously said to have been 
bought by “Mr. Graves.” In reality both of the torques were purchased 

‘ by Gen. Pitt-Rivers. 


Romano-British Settlement on Cold Kitchen Hill. Mr. W. Stratton 

has presented to the Museum two or three more objects obtained from the 
surface of the tumulus, or rubbish-heap (?), on Cold Kitchen Hill, found 
during 1896. They include an extremely perfect bronze Roman fibula with 
hinged pin, a pair of bronze toilet tweezers, and a portion of a light iron 
chain of seven or eight links—the links being of figure-of-eight shape. At 
the same time a bronze coin of Crispus, of a common type, was found,” 
showing that the site was inhabited about A.D. 325. 


Curious Deed at Avebury. The document, a copy of which follows, speaks 
for itself. It is lodged in our parish chest, where it may have been originally 
placed for safety. It is engrossed on thick Government paper, and bears 
three sixpenny stamps. The same geal is impressed against each signature. 
It is embossed with the figure of a lion on a coronet. It will be observed 
that there is a blank left for the first name of this Farmers’ federation. 
There is no signature, too, against the first seal. It is impossible to say who 
was intended to be named here, or why—probably at the last moment—he 
held back. May he have been the one employer of labour whose leniency 
in the past had given cause for the federation P And was it to bring him 
to their standard of a master’s duty that the others suggested this mutual 
obligation? Anyhow the document is curious and deserves to be recorded. 

* Know all Men by these presents that we of 


Y 


Short Notes. 


Avebury in the County of Wilts Gentleman and John Grant of the same 
place Gentleman and John Nalder of West Kennett in the Parish of Avebury 
and County aforesaid Yeoman and Robert Nalder William Thrush Francis 
Piper Stephen Browning and William Harbert of Avebury aforesaid 
Yeomen and William Wooldridge and William Philpot of Beckhampton in 
the said Parish of Avebury Yeomen, are held and firmly do stand bound to 
each other in the sum of Ten pounds of good and lawful money of Great, 
Britain to be paid unto each and either of us or our certain Attorney To 
the which payment well and truly to be made we do hereby bind ourselves 
firmly by these presents. Sealed with our Seals Dated the Twelfth Day 
of January in the Twenty-ninth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, 
George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland 
King, Defender of the Faith and in the year of our Lord 1756 Whereas 
the Threshers and other Daily Workmen and Servants of us the above 
bounded John Grant, John Nalder, Robert Nalder, 
William Thrush, Francis Piper, Stephen Browning, William Harbert, 
William Wooldridge, and William Philpot, have long established that very 
bad custom of going out of their business two Hours every day at their 
Breakfast-time, and one Hour at their Dinner-time for the space of nine 
Months in the year, and two Hours every Day all the other part of the year 
to our great detriment. We do therefore unanimously agree té order and 
oblige all and every our Threshers and other Daily Servants to be in their 
Work and Service from Six of the Clock in the Morning untill Ten and 
from Eleven untill Three and from four untill Six, and so to continue from 
the Middle of February untill the middle of November, And from the middle 
of November untill the middle of February they shall continue in their said 
Work and Service from Daylight until Eleven of the Clock and from Twelve 
untill Night. Now The Condition of this Obligation is such that if any 
Servant or Servants of us or any or either of us refusing to work pursuant 
to the above Order, and thereupon his Master turns him off and each and 
every of us refuseth, and doth not by any means or ways howsoever counte- 
nance employ or set to work any such Servant or Servants so refusing to 
work as above said Then this Obligation to be void or else to remain in 
full force. 

“ Signed and delivered (being first 

duly stamped) in the presence of 


Jno Clements. 
Francis Piper 


“Jno Griffin Grant Stephen Browning 
“John Nalder William Harbert 
“Robert Nalder William Wooldridge 
“ Will. Thrush Wm. Philpot 


his mark.” 


W. H. Davis. 


Short Notes. 183 


The Place of Burial of Col. John Penruddocke. 


A series of letters on this subject appeared in the Wiltshire County 
Mirror, January and February, 1896. Mr.T. J. Northy, in his “ Popular 
History of Old and New Sarum,’ which has been coming out in that paper, 
says (chap. xxix.) :—‘‘ The remains of Penruddocke were interred at the 
Church of St. Lawrence, Exeter,” following, as Mr. Harry Hems pointed 
out, the well-known tradition in Exeter itself, which is doubtless responsible 
for the definite statements made on the subject by various authorities. 
Thus, Jenkins, in his “ History of the City of Exeter” (1806), says that 
Penruddock was buried in St. Lawrence’s; Dr. Oliver, in his “ History of 
the City of Exeter” (1861), after narrating the facts of the execution, 
says:—“In the appendix we give the parting letters between Colonel 
Penruddock and his wife. His execution took place at the Castle on 
Wednesday, 16th May, 1655, and he was privately interred in St. Lawrence’s 
Church. His fellow-sufferer, Mr. Groves (sic) was privileged to be decently 
interred in St. Sidwell’s Church and was thither attended by some thousand 
persons of a depressed party. The brass plate to his memory there was 
erected after the restoration of monarchy.” (This brass still exists at the 
east end of the north aisle.) Cotton & Woolcombe, in “ Gleanings from 
the Municipal and Cathedral Records of the City of Exeter,” 1877, 
say :—‘ Penruddock and two others were condemned to death and suffered 
the extreme penalty on Heavitree gallows tree.” (This is a mistake— 
Penruddocke and Grove were beheaded at the Castle, seven others were 
hanged at Heavitree.) Isacke, in his “ History of Exeter,” 1677, though 
he gives the dying speeches of both Grove and Penruddocke in full, does 
not say where the latter was buried. The Rev. W. Everitt, Rector of St. 
Sidwell’s, writes :—‘“ There is not the slightest reference to Colonel Pen- 
ruddocke in my parish books, there is a tradition that he was buried in St. 
Lawrence Church. The sexton’s family here have often told me that a few 
years ago the body was exhumed, by order in council, by the representatives 
of the Penruddocke family, and taken away to the family burial-place, and 
this quite recently, in Mr. Davis’s incumbency.” [This, in the light of Mr. 
C. Penruddocke’s evidence, given below, is a curious example of the modern 
growth of a legend.] The incumbent of St. Lawrence states that Col. 
Penruddocke’s name does not occur in the registers of that Church. Lysons, 
“ Magna Britannia,” IL., p. 448 (1822), says :—“ John Penruddocke, Esq., 
beheaded at the same time, was buried in Wiltshire.” And Mr. Charles 
Penruddocke, of Compton Chamberlaine, conclusively proves (Wilts County 
Mirror, July 24th, 1896) that this was so, from the parish register of that 
place, in which is the following entry :—“ John Penruddocke, Esq., died at 
Exeter May 16th (1655), and buried at Compton the 19th of the same 
month.” He also gives the following extracts from an account book 
preserved at Compton :— 


“For bringing home Mr. Penruddocke’s body 


from Exon to Compton £07 09 00 
For a tombstone the mason’s work about it 00 O07 06 
More for ribbands and gloves oo 19 11.” 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVII. (9) 


184 Short Notes. 


Mr. Penruddocke continues :—“ In the autumn of 1858 some repairs were 
made to the floor of the Penruddocke family pew in the chancel of Compton 
Church, when, in a small brick vault beneath, a large coffin was discovered 
almost entirely decayed, the bottom only just holding to the sides. No 
doubt it was that of John Penruddocke. It appeared on examination that 
a body had been enclosed, first in a 3-inch elm shell, and that again ina . 
mahogany coffin having an outer covering of oak, with large thick pieces of 
wood screwed on the outside as if to protect it and form a packing-ease for 
travelling to the whole, a large extra lid being fastened on the top of all. 

The nails were of brass thickly gilt. No inscription survived. Cloth had 
been used as a covering of the coffin, but it was totally decayed. The inner 
coffin contained bones, apparently those of a middle-aged man, and portions 

of a substance supposed to be skin with short high-coloured or red hairs on 

it. No part of a skull or teeth could be discovered, so that most probably 

the head was never placed with the body. If it was exposed on the scaffold 

or on the castle gate at Exeter, it may easily have disappeared.’ Mr. 
Northy, in acknowledging the conclusiveness of the testimony of the 
Compton register, suggests that possibly the tradition of burial at St. 
Lawrence’s may have arisen from its having been so given out at the time 

in order to divert attention from the removal of the body to Wiltshire. 


The Murder of Sir William Estcourt, 1684.1 


Dec. 13, 1684, 

“The evidence against Mr. St. John was that he calling S* W™ Estcourt 
‘Asse’ and St W™ replying ‘You are a fool,’ St John threw a bottle at S* 
W™. and immediately followed it with his sword (as Sir W™ sat in his chair 
unarmed) and after he had wounded him, cuft his face with his fist saying 
‘Beg my parden’ several times; wh. St W™. took patiently ; and replied 
nothing, being mortally wounded in the belly, by one wound wh. fitted Mr. 
St. John’s little sword & in the groin by a large wound wh. fitted Col. Web’s 
broad sword as the Chirurgeons (which probed them both) attested; & also 
that both those wounds or either of them were mortal, & that both their 
swords were bloody & greisy, so they were both found guilty of murder. 
The Drawer of the tavern where this murder was done for mincing his 
evidence and denying what he swore at the coroner’s Inquest is comitted to 
Newgate; and also Mr. Higden is comitted for the like in the case between 
Montgomery? & Narborne. This morning judgement was pronounced ag*t 
the malefactors at the Sessions, where Mr. St. John, Web &c. received 
sentence of Death & two others to be hanged for clipping and coyning & 
1 woman to be burnt for the same. It is not yet said whether there will be 
any pardons granted.” 

[The above is from a MS. news letter at Longleat.] 


1 See Notes and Queries, 4th Series, IV., 275, Oct., 1869. 
2 See Jackson's Aubrey, p. 35, where the name Montgomery is not given. 


Short Notes. 185 


Dec. 30, 1684. 

“Yesterday His Majesty’s warrants for the pardon of Mr. St. John & 
Coll Webb; were sent to Mr. Solicitor Finch, who is to draw up their 
pardon.” 


Jan. 13, 1684.5. 
“This day St. Johns & Web’s pardons were sealed.” [MS. news letter 
at Longleat. ] 


“The Pardon of Mr. St. John & Col. Webb are not passed the Sealers, 
but since the signing the warrant they have been granted their liberty on 
bail.” [Muddiman's MS. Journal, p. 63.] 


“Jan. 20, 1684. Sessions at Old Bailey on 16th. Nothing remarkable 
than that Mr. St. John and Coll Webbs pardons were pleaded and allowed 
& Mr. John Brampston for killing Mr. Wiseman at a Tavern was brought 
in guilty of manslaughter.” [TZdzd, p. 66.] 


Bp. Thos. Barlow, of Lincoln, 1692, writing on cases of conscience in No. 2, 
discusses “ whether it be lawful for His Sacred Maj’ King Ch. II. to reprieve 
or pardon a person convicted and legally condemned for murder—Written 
upon occasion of Mr. St. John being unfortunately convicted for the unhappy 
death of Sir W™. Estcourt Bart.” 


[All the above are from extracts made by Canon Jackson.] 


Mr. G. A. Hansard, writing on the matter to Mr. Cunnington in 1869, 
says :—“ Bp. Burnet mentions the affair, vol. 2., p. 600—but not with perfect 
correctness; oral tradition supplies a different version. The circumstances 
are as follows: on the morning of the 20th Dec., 1684, Mr. Henry St. John, 
son of Sir Walter St. John, of Battersea [and Lydiard Tregoze], and father 
of Lord Bolingbroke, Secretary of State to Queen Anne, being at a Wiltshire 
County Club with Edmond Webb, Sir William Estcourt, Roland St. J ohn, 
and Michael Styles, a quarrel arose about the drinking a Republican health 
proposed by one of the company but declined by Sir William Esteourt— 
eventually, tradition says, the whole party sallied out into the street and a 
melée combat ensued, in which Sir William was mortally stabbed, either by 
St. John or Webb. They were arrested and intended to plead not guilty, but 
on the night before the trial a messenger came secretly to them from the 
court, saying that ‘two great ladies’ [Mrs. Nell Gwyn and Lady Castle- 
maine] had heard of their mishap, pitied and would intercede with the King 
for a pardon, provided they pleaded to the indictment of murder. Knowing 
that Jefferies was to be their judge they caught at this chance for life, and 
were condemned accordingly. Then the agent reappeared with a message 
that £16,000 was the price of the ladies’ interference, and unless that were 
promptly paid the utmost rigour of the law awaited them. The men, being 
both of wealthy Wiltshire families, procured the sum and a long reprieve of 
fifty years was granted—the King took £8000 and gave the remainder to 
the ladies. 

“ There is a patent roll in which Charles, about three weeks after the duel, 
restores to Henry St. John and Edmond Webb and Rowland St. John all 


0 2 


186 Short Notes. 


their lands, tenements, farms, cattle, personals, &c., escheated to the Crown 
by the killing of the above-named gentleman. 

“The tradition further says that a fifth man, Bedingfield Paston, was 
present, but incontinently fled to the West Indies, where he changed his 
name to Pogson, became captain of the Independent Company of St. Kits, 
married; and his descendants held high rank in the army under that alias.” 


The Diary of Narcissus Luttrell places the affair at the Globe Tavern, 
otherwise called the Devil’s Tavern, in Fleet Street, and says that it arose 
primarily out of Edward Fitzharris’s recent condemnation for treason, 33rd 
Charles II. In November Edward Noseworthy was tried for saying he 
hoped he might live to see the judges hanged who had sentenced Fitzharris. 
In the indictment the words were laid to have been uttered in Wilts, but 
witnesses proving that it was in Dorsetshire, the prisoner escaped. Sir 
William Estcourt, who had been one of Noseworthy’s jury, sitting soon 
after in the Globe Tavern in company with some of-his fellow jurymen and 
divers friends from the country, a quarrel arose ; and swords being drawn, 
Estcourt was stabbed in five places by St. John and Webb. 


Will. Richmond, of=Alice, d. of Thomas 
Draycott Foliatt. | Webb, of Draycott. 


| 
Will. Richmond, alias Webb,—Joan, d. of John Ewen, 
of Draycot Foliatt. of Draycott. 


[Then, after two descents, | 
| 


| 
Edmond Richmond, alias Webb,=Catherine, d. of Nicholas 
of Rodbourn, or Rodboro’. | St. John, of Lydiard 
Tregoze. 


| 
John Webb.=Elizabeth, d. of Rich. Nicholas. 
| 
Edmond Webb, the “ duellist.” 


Sir William Estcourt, Bart., of Newnton and Salisbury, was the son of 
Sir Giles. He was Sheriff of Wilts in 1626. On his death the baronetcy 
became extinct, and the estates, passing through cousins, eventually fell to 
that branch of the Estcourts who in modern times have represented Devizes 
and North Wilts in Parliament. 

W. Cunnineton. 


The Furniture and Contents of an Inn in the year 1726. 
(Communicated by Mr. P. Pinchin, great-great-great grandson of John 
Baily.) 
“The Inventory of John Bayly late of Box in the County of Wiltes, 
Inholder deceased taken and appraised the 8th Septemb' 1726. 
A True and perfect Inventory of all and singular the Goods and Chattles, 


Short Notes. 187 


Rights and Credits of John Bayly late of Box in the County of Wiltes 
Inholder Deceased, taken and appraised the Eighth day of September 
Anno Dom. 1726 By William Lewis of Box aforesaid Yeoman, John Brown 
of the Chappell of Plaister Innholder and John Little of Whitly in the 
county aforesaid Carpenter, as followeth, viz. :— 


£ os. d. 
“The Deceased his Wearing Apparell 010 00 00 


“ Ready Money by him Left in house 120 10 00 


“Tn the Kitchen. 

“Nineteen pewter Dishes, four Duzen and a Halfe of pewter 
plates, six pewter chamber pots pewter cheese plate, six 05 00 00 
pewter quart potts, one pint, one halfe pint, one nogging, 
and halfe nogging, to candle sticks of pewter. 

“Three Bellemettle potts, two Brass potts, one Skillett one} 


Sawspann Two Settles, Tenn Brass Candlesticks, one > 04 00 00 
Copper pott, one Copper Tea pott 

“One Iron Grate, and paire of Doggs, and Fire Henges, 
fire Shovell and Tonges, fire pick Frying pann, Greed 
Tron, Cheafing Dish &c. 

“One Long Table Board, one Round Table, one Settle, one 
Foarm, and Joint Stooll, and Choyors, and other Lumber, 
with the Tyn [?] 


“Tn the Hall. 


“Four Spitts of Iron, three Iron Candle Sticks, one Jack for ) 
Rosting ; one Iron Driping pann, two paire of Iron pott 
hookes, one fire Grate, and Sliders, one paire of Doggs, and 
one Hetter, one Fender ; one Fire Shovell and Tonges, one $ 02 15 00 
fire pick, two paire of Fire Henges, Two Iron Boxes for | 
Smoothing; and Clamps &c. one paire of Bellows two 
Cleavers, Knives and Forkes J 

“One Settle, two Framed Chayors, one Foarme, one eonne 
Glass, other Cheyors, and other Lumber 


“Tn the Parlor. 
“One Large Ovell table,one Long table, one smaleRound table ) 
one Large press for Cloaths, Four Joinstools, one Framed ! 
Cheyor, Six Leather Cheyors, Six twegged Bottum Cheyors; ‘ 
one Large paire of Bellowes, one Fire Shovell and tonges, f 05 02 00 
one Grated Fire Shovell,and Fire pick ; and one Fire Grate; | 
Eight pictors, and other Lumber 


“In the Best Chamber. 


“One Feather Bed and Bowlster, one Rugg, one Quilte, ual 
paire of Blanketts, Curtains and Vallans Bed Steed &c. 


“Two paire of andirons with Brass A paire of tonges and 
fire Shovell with Brass, one Long Table, one Large Round 03 07 00 

’ Table, one Side Table, Six old Ceane (?) Cheyors, and Stand, 

Earthen ware ; pictors and Lumber with Eight JoyntStools 


“In the Hall Chamber. 
“One Feather Bedd and Bowlster, one paire of Cains 


00 15 00 


00 17 00 


~fe 


01 10 00 


4 


one Bedd-Stead and Bedd Matt &c, wt" ye Rugg Curtains} 04 00 00 


and Vallins 


188 Short Notes. | 


“One paire of Chest of Drawers one Large Looking Glass, 
one Round Table Six Cheyors, a paire of Bellows, two 
Mapps, one paire of Iron Doggs and Close Stool and pann, 
pillows 


“Tn the next Chamber. 
“One Flock Bedd, and Bedd Stead and Rugg, and Quilt and 

Bedd Matt &c. Pa } OF ipa 
“Two Leather Trunks, one Iron Trunk, two Cheasts, one 

Joyn Stool, one Quoffer, one Leather Cheyor, one Cheese 

Rack, one large Press, Ke. 


02 02 06 


“In the Cellar Chamber. 

‘One Feather Bed and Boulster, one paire of Blanketts, one 
Green Rugg, one Low Bed Stead, and Bed Matt, one Flock 
Bedd and Rugg, Blanketts Bedd Stead and Bead Matt 
and pillows 

“One Table Board, Three Boxes ; one Coffer; Flasket and 
other Lumber ee 


04 10 OO 


“Tn the Little Garrett. 


“ One Flock Bedd and Bedd Stead, Rugg, and Matt, Curtains 02 04 06 
and Vallaines, one Foarm and four Coockumber Glasses 


“Tn the Middle Garrett. 
“Two Flock Bedds and three Bedsteads Two Coverletts, Two 
Blanketts, two Matts, one foarm, Beanes, pease, and other 03 10 OO 


Lumber 
“In the Upper Garrett. 


“One Flock Bedd and Bed Stead, one paire of meer 02 02 
Bedd Matt and Cover Lett and other Lumber 


With curtains and Vallains not put upp 01 10 
“Tn the Stayers of the Second Story. 
“ One Clock and Clock Cease 01 10 
‘“‘ Wheate in House 04 10 
“Tn the First Cellar. 
“ Three Butts of old Drinke at 21 00 
“Two Hogs Heads of old Drinke at 08 00 
“Four Barrells of forty Gallans each and one Halfe Hogs us 10 
Head of Ale 
“Two Butts, Two Large Hogs Heads empty 02 10 
“Two Forty Gallon Barrolls two five Gallon Barrells, three ) 
two Gallon Bottles, one Six Quart Bottle, one Gallon, all } O01 05 
Wooden Bottles ) 
“Five Duzen of Good old Drinke Ol 05 
“ Four Duzen Bottles of ale, Tobacco and other Lumber w'* 01 10 00 i 
the Hosses 
“In the Second Cellar. t 
“Six Hogs Head of old Drinke 24 00 00 
“Three Forty Gallon Barrells of old Drinke 08 00 00 
“One Cagg of Wine Vinegar 00 10 00 
“One Empty Caske of Twelve Gallons 00 04 00 


Short Notes. 189 
“The Hosses for to sett the Barrells on, Two Cubbards Hopps 01 09 00 
and other Lumber 
“Tn the Clossett. 
“Ten Duzen Bottles of Old Drinke 02 10 OO 
“Two Cheese plates, and Bowls and other Lumber with = 00 O7 06 
Morter and pestle 
“Tn the Third Cellar. 
“Five Barrells of Old Drinke 13 06 8 
“One Butt of old Drinke 07 00 O 
“Four Duzen Bottles of Cyder Ol 04 O 
“Eight Duzen Bottles of old Drinke 02 00 O 
“Two Duzen Bottles of Wine 02 00 O 
‘In the Lower Malthouse. 
“Three Hundred of Thick old Cheese 04 10 O 
“Two Hundred of Thin Cheese 02 08 O 
“One Cheese Frame and Cheese Tacks &c. Ol 05 O 
“ Hosses for Barrells and Table Board 00 09 O 
“Tn the Lower Malthouse Chamber. 
“Seaven Hundred of New Cheese 06 06 O 
“One Cheese Frame and Eleven Cheese Tacks 00 15 ~O 


Boards, Three Long Foarms, one Long Ladder; Tressles 
and other Lumber 
“In the Dairy. 


“One Cheese Press, Seventeen Cheese Vates, Three Cheese ) 
Tubbs, Two Whey Tubbs, Two Milke Tubbs Earthen 03 16 «#0 
Ware, and other Goods Belonging to the Dairy with the ) 


“One Long Table, and Frame, Three other Short wl | 


Churme &c. 
“Tn the Pantry. 


“One Dow or Neading Trough 
, “ One Salting or powdering Tubb 00 10 00 
1 “One Meale Tubb, and Renges and Lumber 

“ Muggs and Glasses 01 00 00 


“In the Brewhouse. 
“Two Meashing Tubbs, one Cive Tubb, Five Coollers, five 


Washing Tubbs, Five other Little Tubbs, one Strainer, } 03 19 00 
six pailes 
“One Large Furnace and Little Furnace 09 00 O 
“One Little Barrell, one Large Hoss, one Bottle Rack, 
Sawd Quartered Aish, and other Lumber w't ye Beanches ol 13 #O 
Tables &c. 
“In the Middle Malthouse. 
“ Four Quarters of Green Malt 05 00 00 
“ Dry Barley 03 07 O06 
“In the Malt Chamber and Ciln. 
“One Large Cheese Rack 00 04 00 
“One Large Haire Cloath 00 10 06 


190 


Short Notes. 


“In the Smale Beer Buttery. 
“Three Twenty Gallon Barrells 00 
“One Twelve Gallon ; w* Smale Beer 00 


“Five and Twenty Duzen of Bottled Beer in a place in the 06 
Garrett 


“Thirty Duzen Bottles of Old Beer in a Clossett under the } O7 
Stayors 


“In the Malt Chamber over the Stable. 


** Fourteen Quarters of old Malt 3°. 6%. 19 

“ One Side and a Halfe of Bacon 02 

“Two Bittles and Wedges, Saw, Axe, Hatchet 

“Two Wood Hoocks ; two Spade Shovells, one Iron Stoop Ol 
one Cutting Knife 

“ Four picks and six Rakes and five Duz. of Bissums 00 

‘One Skreen for Malt and Mill 02 

“One Large Corne Been ; Oates and Beanes ; Bushell, halfe 01 
Bushell, peck, halfe peck Quartern, with three Basketts 

“Twelve sacks ol 
“In the Stable. 

“A Large Mare 05 

“Two saddles and Gambadoes, and two Bridles O1 

“One Side Sadle and Cover ; one pillin and pillin cloath 00 

“One wheel Barrow 00 


‘In the Orchard and Backside. 


“Three large plock piles, and plocks, about the yard and 
F 100 
aggetts &c. 


“In the woodhouse and Tallett a Large Stock of Elming | 005 
Board, and Quartered Sawed Oake and Aish &c. 

“ An old Stack of Hay and som new Hay 005 

“Two fat piggs 06 


“In the Lower Court. 
“Coles, Faggett Wood ; piggs Troughs, and other Lumber 011 
“ Hay in rick at Aishly Lane Ground, one Rick at the Leigh, ) 
Tinening ; one Rick at the Lay, one Rick at the Barryetts ; 030 
Grounds j 


“Tn the Pigg Sty. 


“ Four young Store piggs, and an old Sow pigg 05 
“In the Cow Barton. 

“Ten Milked Cows 30 
“ Att the Tennement called the Blew Vaine. 

“ Wheate in the Straw 03 

“ Barley in the Straw in the Barne 10 


“The Leasehold estate called the Blew Vaine and two peeces 
of Ground called Chipleases with a Barne Stable Orchard > 56 
and Garden, and Appurtences thereunto belonging 


00 


10 


00 


SS:66 8 Se" 87) 8 38 


SS8S8S 


Short Notes. 191 
“The Leasehold estate called Barryetts and Layes 108 00 00 
“The Tenemt called Maishes Tenem' 018 00 00 


“One Silver Tankard, one Silver Cupp, Three Silver atten) 009 10 00 
Six silver Spoons 


“Table Linen Bedd Linen &c 010 OO 00 
“ Bonds and Notes 106 00 OO 
“Book Debts due 100 00 00 


“Total of the whole Inventory 1008 06 08 
“ Appraised by us W™. Lewis. John Brown. John Little.” 


[The above is interesting as showing in detail the furniture and appurtenances 
of a country inn at the beginning of the eighteenth century.—Ep. | 


The Derivation of the name Warminster. Mr. Daniell, in his History of 
Warminster (p. 12—14), inclines to the view that there is preserved in the 
name that of a British chief, Worgemyn, or Guermin, who is otherwise un- 
known, and this view was accepted by Canon Jones. Mr. Daniell, however, 
says, in a letter to me, that he never felt quite satisfied with it. It is based 
upon the statement in a document given in Kemble’s Codex Diplomaticus, xi., 
p. 328, that ‘the King was at Worgemynster.” This document is given in 
Earle’s Land Charters, p.165. He dates it about 907, and this is the earliest 
date at which any place is named which might be identified with Warminster. 
Birch, in his edition of Codex Diplomaticus, has not yet got asfar. I 
venture to suggest another derivation, viz., that the original form of the 
name was ‘‘ Waermund’s-tre.” The evidence is as follows :—D.H. Haigh, 
in his Anglo-Saxon Conquest of Britain, p. 151—3, notices that the name 
of Waermund, an ancestor of the Kings of Mercia, is often preserved in 
names of places, especially in Mercia—i.e., roughly, the Midlands north of 
the Thames valley —as at Warmley, in Warwickshire; Warmlow, in 
Worcestershire; Warmscomb, in Oxfordshire; and many other possible 
examples. He finds the name also in other districts connected with the 
memory of Hengist and Horsa and theirhouse. These two names are found 
in various parts of England, and there are many instances in the southern 
and western counties. In this neighbourhood, for instance, are to be found 
Henstridge, in Dorset (Hengesteshricg) ; Hengestbury Head, on the coast 
of Hants; perhaps Hursley (Horsanleah), in Hants. (See also Isaac Taylor, — 
Words and Places, p. 209). So at Orcheston is preserved the name of Oeric, 
a son of Hengest ; at Ebbesborne the name of Ebissa, a nephew; at Swan- 
borough and Swanage, the name of Swane, a sister. Waermund survives 
at Warmwell, in Dorset ; and Waermundstrew in Wilts. (These are some 
of Haigh’s examples. Kemble, in his index to Cod. Dip., mentions “ Warm- 
stree”” in Wilts, but I have never heard of this place.) Now this name 
“ Waermundstrew ” occurs in a document in Kemble’s Cod. Dip., vol. 3, 


192 Short Notes. 


p. 201, No. 641, which is also given in a corrected form in Earle’s Land 
Charters, p. 429. Its date is 983, and it gives the boundaries of certain 
lands near Tisbury, in Wilts; observe, not far from Henstridge (Hengist’s- 
ricgh). Some of the boundary names we can identify, as Cigel mare 
(Chilmark), Nodre (the river Nadder), Funtgeal (Fonthill) ; others no doubt 
might be recognised by anyone who knew the locality well, as Sapcombe, 
Rodelee, Gificancombe, Gofsdene ; and the Waermund’strew is one of these 
boundaries. Of course it is not Warminster, but I should conjecture that at 
Warminster, as near Tisbury, stood a Waermund’s-tree, which gave the place 
its name. It will thus be an English, and not a British, name. The tree 
would be a mark tree, dedicated to a hero or a god, just as the special god 
of borders, Woden, has given his name to Wanstrow ; or, it might be the 
“sacred tree where the village with its elders met in the Tun-moot which 
gave order to their social and industrial life.’ (See Green’s Making of | 
England, p. 181, 183, 193.) And inasmuch as boundary marks were 7 
sacred, and were also places of assembly, it may not be rash to conjecture that | 
the tree may have stood where the Church stands now ; just as “ near Chertsey . 
is an ancient and venerable oak said by tradition to have been a boundary of 
Windsor Forest, and called the Crouch, ¢.e., Crux, or Cross Oak.” (Kemble, 
Saxons, vol. i, p. 53.) Compare the name Bishopstrow, though the ex- 
planation is slightly different. (See Jones, Hist. ofthe Diocese of Salisbury, . 
p. 54.) Whether Haigh means to identify ‘‘ Waermundstrew in Wiltshire ” 
with Warminster, or whether he simply takes the name from the Saxon 
document, without identifying it with any place, does not appear; but we 
may notice one further fact, that the document quoted above gives us 
the earliest form (putting Worgemynster aside) of the termination of the 
word, which is ¢tre—not ¢er. In Domesday it is still Guerminséve, and 
continues so till the fifteenth century. Mr. Daniell gives no instance of the 
termination fer till the fifteenth century ; then it became fixed and regular, 
and thus the last syllable, read with the second syllable, made an existing 
English word and so the etymology was obscured. 

Mr. Daniell thinks that the derivation suggested above is safer than his 
own, and accepts it as the most probable. 


JoHn U. Powett, M.A. 


Wootton Bassett Notes. 

(Reprinted from the Wootton Bassett Almanack, 1897.) “It may 
perhaps not be generally known that the tower of the Parish Church 
which was taken down at the restoration was not more than 40ft. in 
height. It was, however, of exactly the same size as the present one, and 
contained four large pieces of oak timber in the corners of the belfry. The 
windows in it were of the Decorated period. On the east side could be seen 
the mark of the roof of the Church to which it belonged, which must have 
been a small, low edifice, supposed to have been built about A.D. 1300. 

‘A portion of the Church of 1300 still exists, viz.: the window in which 
the stained glass to the memory of the late Earl of Clarendon is placed. In 
the chancel taken down at the restoration of which this window formed 


Short Notes. 193 


part, it was placed at the east end in the north aisle. It is considered to be 
a good specimen of the style (Decorated) to which it belongs, and has now 
formed part of three or perhaps four different Churches, as the chancel 
which was taken down was of a kind of debased architecture and inferior 
workmanship, and may have been erected by Lawrence Hyde, Earl of 
Rochester, at the same time as the Town Hall, as the columns or pillars 
were apparently about the same pattern and size. 

“On the left-hand side of the south door on entering the Church was the 
remarkable fresco or mural painting representing the assassination of Thomas 
& Becket. About 1856 this interesting relic of antiquity was destroyed by 
a monument being placed over it, the place being between the large doorway 
and the staircase leading to the parvise. It is thus described in a newspaper 
of the date of the discovery, viz., 1823 :—‘The curious discovery of an 
ancient painting in the Church at Wootton Bassett.—On clearing the south 
wall, which is a more ancient part of the Church than the rest of the 
structure with which it is now united, the workmen here accidentally brought 
to light a very curious painting, executed in the rudest style, but evidently 
illustrating the subject which it represented. In the act of brushing, a 
piece of plaster fell off and discovered underneath the armed foot of a man 
with aspear. Gradually removing the plaster away, the workmen found a 
painting in water colours (red) of the murder of Archbishop’ Becket. The 
four knights in armour are nearly perfect, the two foremost are pressing on 
him with their swords drawn, the latter in the act of drawing. The arch- 
bishop is kneeling before the altar; between his hands, which are raised in 
a pious attitude, is the wafer. The cup and the book are placed on the 
table before him, the crucifix and the mitre are by his side. The cardinal’s 
red robe with golden bands is distinct. His features are a good deal 
obliterated, but there is sufficient to distinguish that his head is turned in 
sudden surprise. The picture is evidently painted on the first coating, as 
the bare stone is immediately underneath ; and below is sketched what was 
intended as the Cathedral itself. The picture is highly worth the inspection 
of the curious.’ The writer can remember seeing this on the very day on 
which it was discovered. It was in the first year he went to school, and on 
going home past the Church he went inside to see it. 

“On the north wall of the nave, just opposite the large door was the royal 
coat of arms placed by law in every Church at the Restoration. It was 
painted on the wall in red colours, and there were these words on the upper 
part, ‘God save King Charles,’ and at the bottom, ‘God save his Grace.’ 

“‘The handsome chandelier was presented about 1780 by Mrs. (or Miss, 
for she was never married) Jane Hollister, daughter of Mr. Charles Hollister, 
who was then steward or bailiff to Lord Clarendon. 

“In a Terrier dated 28th July, 1783, the furniture of the Church is thus 
described :—‘ five large and one small bells, a clock, one silver chalice and 
cover gilt, the gift of Mr. William Joburn to the Church at Wootton Bassett 
in the year 1631, on the cover is engraved the letters W.J.; one small ditto 
& cover weight 11 os., one silver salver weight 113 ozs., one ditto 10 ozs., 
one chandelier and two scones, one in the minister’s desk and one on the 
clerk’s, the gift of Mrs. (or Miss) Jane Hollister of Wootton Bassett ; and 


194 


Short Notes. 


the glebe land, Wootton Fields, formerly called Rudhills (533 acres).’ 

‘At the time of the restoration of the Church the lead coffin of Henry 
Hyde, Earl of Clarendon and Rochester was found. He must have been a 
very tall man, and the coffin was singularly narrow where the shoulders 
would be. The inscription, of which the writer has a tracing, was ‘ The 
Right Honble. Henry Hyde, Earl of Clarendon and Rochester, Died 10th 
December, 1753, in ye 83rd year of his age.’ There was also the coat of 
arms and the motto ‘ Soyez Ferme.’ 

“In a Terrier dated 28th July, 1783, the Old Vicarage—which stood ona 
site some distance below the present one—is thus described :—‘ The Vicarage 
House Built with stone, and covered with thatch, a hall on the first floor 
with stone pavement, pantry with earth floor, scullery with stone pavement, 
on the first floor; a dining room wainscotted chair high, a drawing room, 
and three bed rooms, all ceiled, on the second floor; three garrets ; brewhouse 
29ft. by 24ft. Stable, 19ft. by 17ft., stone walls, and covered with thatch. 
Barn, 47{t. by 19ft. weather boarded, and covered with thatch.’ 

“The parish was formerly divided into two tythings, Woodshaw and 
Greenhill. Each appointed its own tythingman or constable until 1839, 
when the rural police took over their duties. When the new Highway Act 
was adopted in the Swindon Division, in 1864, surveyors of highways 
ceased tobe appointed. The Borough of Wootton Bassett appointed its own 
surveyor. The amount levied was to the full extent of that authorised by 
law, namely, three ten-penny rates in a year, and there was always much 
squabbling among the inhabitants, Once a year the road scrapings were 
sold, about Christmas time, at one or other of the inns, and the money was 
speut in jollification. This was called the ‘ Dirt Supper.’ 

“The rates in Woodshaw tything seldom exceeded sixteen pence in the 
pound, and those levied in Greenhill were about sixpence, but—as may be 
expected—the roads were in a wretched state. 

“The area of the parish in which the tything of Woodshaw was comprised 
was the north and east side of the stream, the correct name of which is the 
‘Lower Avon, and the Greenhill tything the south and west sides of the 
same. Among the roads which have ceased to exist in the parish may be 
mentioned one called ‘ Pudding Lane,’ which led out of the Chippenham Road 
to Dunnington Common, and now forms part—at the west side—of an arable 
field called Muxon Close, on Dunnington Farm. ‘Those people from 
Brinkworth and elsewhere who came up Whitehill Lane, could, if they 
wished, go to Marlborough without passing through the borough, thus 
avoiding the two hills by which it is approached. ‘here was also another 
road which was abolished when the enclosure (about 1820 or 1821) of the 
common land within the parish took place. It led from Dunnington 
Common by a bridge built over the canal, down to the brook into a large 
field called Ford Close, or Cruse’s Field (now belonging to Mr. George 
Twine), and went over, up under the hedge, into what was Greenhill 
Common, thence to Calne, Chippenham, &c. It was only used for a bridle 
road, but it is quite evident from the quantity of earth in the track—which 
has vanished, the ground being much lower—that it must have been 
used to a great extent in ancient times. By going from Dunnington Common 


ne 


lee 


Mosse ~ 


pias eS 


Short Notes. 195 


by Nore-Marsh, up Stoneover Lane, and thence by a road which is said 
to have existed by Midgehall Farm to Shaw, there appears to have been a 
way to Highworth. There was also another lane which is now disused, 
called Vowley Lane. This was between Wootton Fields Farm and Taylor’s 
Field on Nore-Marsh Farm. The correct name, however, is Fowl Hill. 
There were several pieces of land of this name to which the lane led, 
and instead of ‘ Bishop's Fowley’ the farm ought to be called ‘ Bushey 
Fowlhill,’ that being the name in old documents. There is another bridle 
road, the knowledge of which has probably almost passed away. It com- 
menced at Upper Greenhill, and passed along the south side of the parish, 
from thence to Bushey Vowley, or Fowlhill, by Wootton Fields Farm, and 
between the glebe (called Rudlands) and Goldborough in Broad Town 
parish. The footpath from Tockenham and Lyneham originally crossed 
the brook on the lower or north side of the canal aqueduct by means of 
some very large stones, which formed a bridge. One of them was dragged 
out by four horses in 1842 and utilised on a neighbouring farm. It is 
probable that the field named the Wores (there were three of that name) 
was so called from being close to the mill pond. A wear, or weir, is a dam 
or stank, so that it is probable that ‘ The Weirs’ is the proper name. The 
Weir at Broad Hinton, and Whyr Farm, are probably derived from the 
same source. About 1793 the turnpike road from Swindon to Christian 
Malford Bridge was in use, and that part between Hunt’s Mill Bridge and 
the Red Lion at Hillocks, Lyneham, was entirely new. The old road leading 
from Wootton Bassett to Chippenham went up where the canal bridge now 
is, up the hill on the right a little way beyond it, thence through the upper 
part of Little Park Farm, by Woodyates (or Wood Gate) and along towards 
Tockenham, passing at the bottom of the Cowleaze at Queen’s Court Farm, 
where there are several pollard sycamore trees which were once in the hedge 
belonging to the road. It then passed the village of Tockenham on the 
north side, went by Shaw House Farm, and thence to the Red Lion. The 
turnpike house in Wootton Bassett parish at Coped Hall would seem to have 
been used as such, according to the census, in 1793, but that at the west end 
of the town at Whitehill Lane was not built then. There was a date on 
the beam (1797) when it was pulled down in 1879. From where Whitehill 
Lane widens below the cottages, or rather did, for it has recently been 
enclosed and added to the adjoining fields, it was called Broadway. What 
is now Hooker’s Gate in ancient times was called Faafe Gate, and was 
where the ‘ Duke went forth.’ There was an enclosure of oak trees there, 
called Woakhay (or Oak Hay), and a ‘ Woak Hay mead.’ This must have 
been corrupted into Hooker’s. 

“There was formerly a wood called Calo Wood, consisting of a hundred 
acres, about where Mr. Tuck’s farm is at Highate. After the Agricultural 
Riots of 1830 a large piece of land on the north of the road was broken up 
there, and used as allotments by the labourers of the parish, which was 
christened by them ‘ New Zealand,’ and another piece of land on the south 
side was used for the same purpose, and called ‘ High Beggars.’ 

“The Act of Parliament for enclosing the common land in this parish 
was obtained in 1819, and the commissioner appointed was Mr. Decimus 


196 Short Notes. E 


Godson, who also in the next year surveyed and valued the parish of 
Lyneham. He afterwards became manager of a bank at Croydon, where 
some of his descendants are now in business. 

“Greenhill Common consisted of about forty acres, and everyone in the 
parish had a right to depasture stock there, and a hayward was appointed 
by the manor court. The cottagers also kept many geese. It was a 
favourite resort of gipsies, whose ‘ pitch’ was generally on the west side of 
the hedge on the left-hand side of the Bushton and Clyffe Road, just over 
the canal bridge called in the ordnance map ‘Greenhill Bridge.’ On Sunday 
the lads and lasses of the lower orders in Wootton Bassett were accustomed 
to congregate there, the former for football and the latter to have their 
fortunes told by these dusky sybils. 

“The late Mr. Abraham Woodward, of Wood Street, Wootton Bassett, 
declared that he had seen in print somewhere that Lady Englefield, on her 
departure from Vastern in 1667, assigned this common to the inhabitants 
for pasturage in lieu of the Lawn (or Lawnd). Of this there is scarcely a 
doubt. 

“The Cripps family had a field in the middle of Greenhill Common, which 
they held as lifehold for many generations. It was popularly supposed to 
have been at some time ‘grabbed’ from the common, and was called 
‘Pinchgut Close.’ 

“ The last time any court of the Manor of Wootton Bassett was held was 
in March, 1834. The writer, whose father was tything-man and hayward, 
remembers summoning some of the inhabitants of Greenhill tything to 
attend. The manor courts were always held in the Town Hall. 

“When the common was enclosed it was apportioned to the owners of the 
adjoining land, according to the quantity in their possession.” 

W. F. Parsons. 


Natural History. 


White-tailed Hagle at Salisbury, The Rev. A. P. Morres, in an interesting 
letter to the Salisbury Journal, February 6th, 1897, describes an enormous 
bird which was seen by several people flying slowly N.W. over the Close, and 
quite low down, on January 31st, mobbed by all the rooks and jackdaws in 
the neighbourhood. From the description given him he feels sure that the 
bird was an immature specimen of the Sea Eagle, Halietus albicilla, which 
has been not unfrequently killed in the neighbourhood of Christchurch. 


Potterne Bird Notes—Kaingfisher, Peregrine, Greater Spotted 
Woodpecker, &c. There was an interesting nest of Kingfishers last 
summer at Eastwell. It was in a hole in the sandstone at the side of a 
small cave, near the pond, and about 25yds. from the house. The curious 
part about this choice of a nesting-place was that the children of the house 
had built a small stove within a few yards of the cave and were continually 


Short Notes. 197 


lighting fires at it, and amusing themselves for hours together. The young 
birds were duly hatched and reared, and I believe that there is going to be 
another nest in the same hole this spring, as a pair of old birds have been 
seen more than once lately near the place. 

I saw a Greater Spotted Woodpecker on the 1st of February, but have 
not been able to find him again; and in the course of the winter I have 
seen a pair of Peregrines on two occasions, a single bird repeatedly ; a 
Sheldrake (a very fine male); and a Coot, a bird which I have never seen 
in the brooks near here before. 

There was what I may call a complete absence of Fieldfares and Redwings 
from the fields in this immediate neighbourhood after November. The 
Redwings arrived in the third week of October, but in small numbers, the 
Fieldfares later, and they were more numerous—good flocks of them were 
with us for about a fortnight, then they disappeared, but in the first week 
of February came back, and are still (April 8th) about. A very few 
Redwings also came back. 


A. B. FisHeEr. 


Omosaurus or Stegosaurus, from the Kimmeridge Clay of Swindon. 
Some years ago a number of Saurian bones (now to be seen in the Natural 
History Museum at South Kensington) were found at the Swindon Brick 
and Tile Works. They were regarded at the time as belonging to a new 
genus of Saurians, to which the name “ Omosaurus” was assigned. It 
appears, however, that amongst the astounding series of monsters whose 
bones have been found and described by Professor Marsh in the Western 
States of America (see “‘ Hatinct Monsters,” by the Rev. H. N. Hutchinson) 
one of the most astonishing, the “ Stegosaurus,’ is really identical with 
the creature to which the Swindon bones belonged. This monster, whose 
length was about 30ft., either walked on all fours or sat up on end on his 
hind legs and tail—the latter member being of enormous dimensions and 
armed with four pairs of great spines. All down his back he had a cresting 
of great erect bony plates, and, whilst he had but a small set of brains in 
his head, he seems to have had a second set of larger dimensions in his 
haunches, to control the movements of his gigantic hind quarters. 


Swallows roosting in osier beds. A letter appeared in The Times of Sept. 
18th, 1896, describing a remarkable flight of swallows observed on the 
evening of Sept. 15th at Chiswick, in the following words :—“ It was a dark, 
dripping evening, and the thick osier bed on Chiswick Eyot was covered 
with wet leaf. Between 5 and 6 o'clock immense flights of swallows and 
martins suddenly appeared above the eyot, arriving, not in hundreds, but 
in thousands and tens of thousands. The air was thick with them, and 
their numbers increased from minute to minute. Part drifted above, in 
clouds, twisting round like soot in a smoke-wreath. Thousands kept 
sweeping just over the tops of the willows, skimming so thickly that the 
sky-line was almost blotted out for the height of from 3ft to 4ft. In 
time I discovered whence they came. They were literally ‘ dropping from 


198 Short Notes. 


the sky.’ The flocks were travelling at a height at which they were quite 
invisible in the cloudy air, and from minute to minute they kept dropping 
down into sight, and so perpendicularly to the very surface of the river or 
of the eyot. One of these flocks dropped from the invisible regions to the 
lawn on the river bank on which I stood. Without exaggeration I may say 
that I saw them fall from the sky, for I was looking upwards, and saw 
them when first visible as descending specks. The plunge was perpendicular, 
till within ten yards of the ground. Soon the high-flying crowds of birds 
drew down, and swept for a few minutes low over the willows, from end to 
end of the eyot, with a sound like the rush of water in a hydraulic pipe. 
Then by a common impulse the whole mass settled down from end to end 
of the island, upon the osiers. Those in the centre of the eyot were black 
with swallows—like the black blight on beans. Next morning, at 6.30, a.m., 
every swallow was gone. In half an hour’s watching not a bird was seen. 
Whether they went on during the night, or started at dawn, I know not.” 


This letter was followed, in the issue of Sept. 22nd, by another, from Mr. 
E. F. Catford, dated Swindon, Sept. 19th, describing a precisely similar 
scene at Coate, near Swindon :—“ A few days ago, at Coate, near Swindon, 
within a stone’s-throw of the house where Richard Jefferies was born, the 
swallows gathered one evening in thousands—the sky seemed black with 
them—and settled in an osier bed, quite near the public highway. They 
descended in precisely the same manner as at Chiswick—as it were, ‘they 
fell from the sky,’ or, as an eye-witness put it, came ‘like bullets from a 
gun. A like scene, too, has been witnessed this week at Lechlade, in 
Gloucestershire, the birds here again choosing an osier bed. The gathering 
at Coate is specially remarkable because of its annual recurrence; it has 
happened every year for thirty years at the same osier bed. Can such 
unfailing regularity be explained? And can Mr. Cornish or any other 
naturalist tell us why the birds seem always to prefer osiers P”’ 7 


Arecent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, €e., 
on GHiltshive Atlatters. 


The Cathedral Church of Salisbury; a Description of its Fabric, 
and a brief History of the See of Sarum. With 32 illustrations. 
Edited by Gleeson White. London: George Bell & Sons. 1896. Cloth. 
Cr. 8vo. Pp.115, Price 1/6. Bell’s Cathedral Series. 

This little book, with its tastefully-designed cover, its many illustrations, 
and its concise scholarly letterpress, undoubtedly supplies a want. Hitherto 


> 


4 


Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, §c., on Wiltshire Matters, 199 


there has been no guide to the Cathedral which is at once cheap and good— 
but now the visitor to Salisbury can buy for one shilling and sixpence a 
guide book in which he will find the information contained in the large and 
expensive works of Hatcher, Britton, Dodsworth, Price, and others most 
carefully boiled down for his consumption. It is, in fact, an admirable 
little book. The casual tourist will find in it just as much as he wants to 
know of the history of the Building and the Bishops and the See, and may 
rest secure, as he takes it for his guide round the Cathedral, the Cloisters, 
and the Chapter House, that no feature of interest—whether ancient or 
modern in its origin—will escape his notice, and that the information which 
he derives from its pages is thoroughly accurate and up to the level of 
modern architectural and antiquarian knowledge. Even the professed 
student of architecture will find very little indeed that is not accurately 
described and commented on with knowledge, and in cases of doubt—such 
as the attribution of the various monuments—the views pro and con are 
shortly and carefully stated and the authorities by which they are supported 
are given, The title on the cover, “ The Cathedral and City,” is somewhat 
misleading, for Old Sarum has to be content with four pages and New Sarum 
with only one, A singular slip, too, occurs on p. 35, where “the grey colour 
of the stone roof” is spoken of; and the present great work of repair on 
the spire is not mentioned : but otherwise the book is a model of what such 
books should be, and the visitor to Salisbury cannot do better than arm 
himself with it forthwith. 

It contains the following illustrations :—Salisbury from an old print, the 
Cathedral from the South, Cathedral and Bell Tower, West Front, one Bay 
of Nave, Corbel, Plan, Nave, Interior Bay of Nave, N. Aisle, Nave Transept, 
Choir looking East, Portion of Old Organ Screen, Piscina, 8. Choir Aisle, 
Chantry of Bp. Bridport, Bay of Chapter House, Interior of Chapter House, 
Carvings of Chapter House, Cloisters, One Bay of Cloisters, Doorway in 
East Cloister, Cloisters looking North, Old Rings, Hanging Parapet on 
Close Wall, Death and the Gallant, Hungerford Chapel, Stained Glass, 
Bishop Poore’s Monument, Bishop Bingham’s Monument. 


Noticed in Notes and Queries, Jan. 23rd, and Salisbury Journal, Jan. . 
23rd, 1897. 


Salisbury Cathedral, by the Very Rev. G. D. Boyle, M.A., Dean 


of Salisbury. Tlustrated by Alexander Ansted. London: 
Isbister & Co. mpcccxcvir. 12mo. Pp. 65. [Price 1/-] 

This dainty little booklet, dressed in white, does not enter into competition 
with the handbook noticed above. It is really a reprint of two articles 
written by the Dean for The Sunday Magazine, in which he discourses 
pleasantly of the history of the Cathedral and its main characteristics, merely 
touching here and there on the architectural details of the structure and 
the monuments, dwelling rather on the constitution and work of the Chapter, 
the various worthies connected with it, the parts which the successive 
Bishops took in the events of the times in which they lived, and their 
influence on the work of the Cathedral body. The illustrations are from 
charming pen drawings, and altogether, without pretending in any way to 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVII. P 


200 Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, §c., on Wiltshire Matters. 


be a guide book to the Cathedral, it is a memento which many who visit 
the great Church will be glad to carry away with them. Noticed in Devizes 
Advertiser, May 13th, 1897. 

The illustrations are as follows :—Cathedral from the N.E.; W. Front; 
S. Aisle, looking W.; Turret of the W. Front; N. Porch; Longespee Tomb ; 
View from the Meadows; Inverted Arch ; Audley Chantry; Cloister and 
S. Transept; Great Transept; Chapter House; view through Grille to the 
Bridport Tomb ; Lady Chapel ; Consecration Cross on Chapter House. 


Old Wiltshire Market Towns and Villages, by M. K. Dowding. 
Illustrated by M.E.Sargent. London: Houlston & Sons. Chippenham 
and Bath. 1896. Sm. 4to. Pp. vi. 92. Cloth. Price 5/- nett. With 
frontispiece and 35 illustrations in the text from pen drawings. 

This is a nicely-printed and well-got-up little book, written in an easy 
and not unpleasant style, and illustrated with numerous sketchy pen drawings 
which here and there—as in the case of the old Shambles, now destroyed, 
at Chippenham—illustrate some point of interest, but for the most part are 
but too vague “impressions ”’ of buildings, or picturesque “ bits,” of little 
value from a topographical point of view. The letterpress contains outlines 
of the history of the places treated of, and of their prominent characteristics 
in modern times. As far as the history is concerned, this seems taken as a 
rule from the recognised authorities—though even here there are too many 
slips. The people of Wilts were hardly called “ Wilscetas ” in Cesar’s time 
—the Saxon Archbishop’s name was Theodore, not “ Theodosias”—and the 
great castle-building bishop, Roger of Salisbury, did xo¢ bear the surname 
of “Poore,” by which he is mentioned three times in this book. In the 
matter of architecture the authoress has apparently the vaguest ideas, as is 
sufficiently evident from such statements as that the bell-cots of Biddeston, 
Leigh Delamere, and Acton Turville are “ considered to be Saxon ”—that 
the outside of Box Church displays the Norman style—that the “ massive 
Blind House on the Bridge at Trowbridge ”’ is connected with the ancient 
castle—and that the existing chancel of the old Church at Swindon is about 
eleven hundred years old. The derivations of place names given in the 
book, as for instance, the identification of Warminster with Westminster, 
are in several cases not convincing—and where the authoress (as at Swindon 
and Box) ventures on a remark on the local geology it is but too evident 
that she is out of her depth. It is a pity that so pretty a book should be 
marred by such mistakes as these. 

The following is a list of the illustrations :—Salisbury Cathedral, E. Gate 
of the Close, Butter Cross; Warminster from New Road, The Minster ; 
Trowbridge Parish Church, Almshouses ; Bradford-on-Avon Bridge, Saxon 
Church, View of from Railway Station ; Melksham Church, Old Houses ; 
Devizes—St. John’s, Virgin and Child at St. Mary’s, Old Town Hall; Calne 
Church, Green with School-houses ; Marlborough High Street; King Oak 
Savernake Forest ; Swindon View from, Chancel of Old Church ; Chippenham 
Parish Church, the Old Shambles, Old Town Hall ; Corsham Church Porch, 
Hungerford Alms Houses; Box Church, Bridge and Blind House ; 
Biddestone St. Nicholas, Belfry of St. Peter’s; Malmesbury Abbey Porch, 


Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c., on Wiltshire Matters. 201 


Market Cross, Town from Railway Station ; Castle Combe Church, Cross. 
Noticed, Devizes Gazette, Nov. 12th, 1896; St. James’ Budget, March 
5th, 1897. 


A Parish on Wheels, by Rev. J. Howard Swinstead, M.A., of the 
Society of St. Andrew, Salisbury; with Introduction by the 
Lord Bishop of Salisbury. London: Gardner, Darton, & Co. 1st and 
2nd editions. 1897. Post 8vo. Cloth. pp. xviii. 233. 30 illustrations. 

Mr. Swinstead was for some time Itinerant Missioner for the Diocese of 
Salisbury, a part of his duty being to visit as far as possible all the chief 
fairs in the counties of Wilts and Dorset and to minister to the floating 
population of “ Van-dwellers” assembled thereat, living amongst them 
during the fair like one of themselves in hisown van. He speaks therefore 
with authority on the life and characteristics of a class, numbering about two 
thousand in the Diocese of Salisbury, which is too often assumed to be com- 
posed of social Ishmaels unworthy of an honest man’s acquaintance. Mr. 
Swinstead has much to say in their favour, and gives many instances of 
conscientiousness and fair dealing that would be rather astonishing even in 
people who do zoé dwell in vans or own roundabouts or swing-boats. In 
fact he stands up manfully both for the fairs themselves and for the fair 
people. His illustrations, from photos of incidents in the lives of his 
“ parishioners,’’ are most of them good and characteristic, and he has a power 
of observation and a keen sense of humour which enable him not only to 
tell a good story but to tell it with strict regard to local colouring—a not 
too common accomplishment. He writes the van-dwellers’ language well, 
the language, that is to say, of the South Wilts and Dorset “Travellers,” 
with whom he came most in contact. His chapter on superstitions mentions 
several interesting points, e.g., a baby may be as clean as a new pin elsewhere 
but the palms of its hands should not be washed, in order that the marking 
of the “birth lines”” may remain clear and distinct; again, you must on no 
account point at a rainbow—and if you can find a filbert with two points 
preserve it carefully in your waistcoat pocket and you will never suffer from 
toothache. Altogether the book is both entertaining and interesting. The 
least satisfactory thing about it is the cover, which quite unnecessarily 
suggests that the book is of the Sunday school prize order. Noticed 
favourably in Salisbury Times, Jan. 22nd, Salisbury Journal, Jan. 23rd, 
‘Devizes Gazette, March 4th, Spectator, May 15th, 1897. 


Wilton Garden. Hortus Penbrochianus. Le Jardin de Vuilton. 
Construit par le trés noble et trés puissant Seigneur Philippe 
Compte de Penbrooke et Mongomeri Baron harbert de Cardif 
Seigneur parr et Ralle de Candall, Marmion St. Quentin et 
Churland, gardien de lestanerie aux Contez de Cornvall et devon 
Chamberlain de la Maison du Roy, Chevalier du trés noble 
ordre de la Jartiere, Lieutenant-general pour le Roy auz 
provinces de Vuilts, Somersett et Kent, Conseiller du Conceill 


P 2 


202 Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c., on Wiltshire Matters. 


Privé de sa Majesté. Isaac de Caus inv. Oblong 4to. N.D. 
Price £1 1s. 

This is a fac-simile reproduction by Quaritch (P) of the rare set of etchings 
by Isaac de Caus published ¢. 1640, the title being taken from that of the 
large folding plate, and a list of the 26 plates added, including the title 
page and advertisement. The other plates are .—A Bird’s Eye View of the 
Garden, folded; Plan of the Garden, folded; 5 Plates of Embroydered 
Flower Plats; 4 Fountains with Statues; the two Groves, with Statues of 
Bacchus and Flora; a Fountain surmounted with a Crown; 2 Elevations of 
the Covered Arbours ; 2 Plates of the Gladiator ; Elevation of the Front of 
the Portico ; Plan of Portico ; Perspective Views of Interior of Grotto with 
Figures ; a Platt with two Statues, fountain, &c.; the Raised Terrace. 

These etchings, of which the originals are so rare as to be practically 
unattainable, are admirably reproduced and give a good idea of what must 
have been in its day one of the most extensive and elaborate gardens of the 
Italian sort, with clipped hedges, arbours, statues, fountains, grottoes, 
formal “ platts,” and geometrical walks, ever devised. It was doubtless a 
fine thing of its kind—but, when one thinks of the beauties of Wilton as 
it is, it is hard to regret its disappearance. 


Wiltshire Notes and Queries, No. 16, Dec., 1896. Mr. Elyard concludes 
his “ Annals of Purton” with a description of the Church, illustrated by a 
plate of architectural details, and the charities of the parish. Then follow 
ten pages of the valuable records for the History of Cholderton. The 
sufferings of Quakers in Wilts for non-payment of tithes and Church rates 
and non-attendance at public worship in the “ Steeple House,” taken from 
a MS. book of “ Sufferings from 1653—1756,” afford many interesting 
points. The parish clergyman is always spoken of as “ye prist.” The 
sufferers themselves seem to have come chiefly from the neighbourhood of 
Salisbury, Bradford, Chippenham, Calne, Bishops Cannings, and Lavington. 
After this Mr. Tompkins returns to the charge on the subject of the 
whereabouts of the Swinbeorg of Alfred’s will, and adduces some ingenious 
evidence in favour of its being “ Swanborough Ashes,” or “ Tump,” in the 
parish of Manningford Abbots—of which he gives a sketch. Nonsuch 
House, Bromham, is illustrated by a drawing, and notes on the Norris 
family, to whom (with many other small properties in Wilts) it belonged 
during the whole of the eighteenth century. There is also a nice drawing 
of Ivy House, Chippenham. Altogether the number is quite one of the 
best yet published. 


Ditto, No. 17, March, 1897. This number—the first issued under the editorship 
of Mr. Arthur Schomberg—contains an unusually large number of queries 
and short notes. Of the latter perhaps the most interesting is the in- 
formation given as to the holding of a Court Leet for the Hundred of 
Swanborough in 1764 at ‘“ Swanborough Ash,” and also another in 1763 at 
Foxley Corner, in the parish of Urchfont, for the same Hundred. The 
writer suggests that, as the ancient Hundred of Stodfolde was incorporated 
in the Hundred of Swanborough, Swanborough Tump doubtless represents 


Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c., on Wiltshire Matters. 203 


the site of the Swanborough Hundred court, and Foxley Corner that of the 
court of the Hundred of Stodfolde. The Rev. A. P. Morres gives a long and 
interesting note on the large Sea Eagle lately seen at Salisbury, from which 
it appears that this specimen, or another of the same species, was seen by 
Mr. Bennett Stanford on Jan. 22nd, at “Great Ridge,” on the Fonthill 
estate, whilst Mr. Morres supposes that the Salisbury bird was also the one 
seen later on in Devonshire. The Wiltshire extracts from the Gentleman’s 
Magazine are continued—Mr. Kite begins an account of John Stafford, 
Archbishop of Canterbury—and the first part of an account of the Child 
family and their connection with Heddington also appears, illustrated by a 
reduced reproduction of Stukeley’s view of the place. 


“Stonehenge and its Earthworks.’ In a 4to pamphlet of 11 pp., dated 


bp 4 eS 


April, 1897, Mr. Edgar Barclay, the author of the work bearing the above 
title, published in 1895, prints a’series of replies to the criticisms passed on 
his theories and conclusions, under the somewhat enigmatic motto “ Veritas 
Tempora Filia.”’ He argues that his theory that the cursus was the camping 
ground of the strangers who came to take part in the Stonehenge solemnities 
is more plausible than any other. So far, however, as one can see the only 
arguments that he adduces in its favour are, that there are only two barrows 
within the cursus, that it is near the River Avon, and that the fortified 
positions of Durrington Walls and Vespasian’s Camp command the path from 
the cursus to the water, and would, therefore, serve to keep the crowds of 
strangers, whom he pictures as camping in the cursus, in order. Again, he 
argues that his theory that the erection of Stonehenge was the work of a 
“brief transitional period’ in the time of Agricola, is supported by the 
analogy of the trilithons with similar erections in Tripoli, some of which 
have Roman ruins connected with them, because “southern ideas and 
innovations in temple building could only have spread northwards with the 
advance of Roman dominion.’ If this is so it seems to follow that all 
dolmens, circles, and other megalithic remains must also belong to the 
Roman age, inasmuch as they exist both in the North and South—in 
Northern Africa and Syria, as well as in France, Britain, and Denmark. 
He relies also on the “presence of foreign stones” as “ telling of foreign 
assistance,’ and says “ without assistance these same tribesmen could never 
have obtained the foreign blue stones; are we to presume that the rude 
Celtic shepherds and herdsmen of Salisbury Plain had ships at their 
command?” Here again, as in his book, he ignores the geological evidence 
lately adduced on the highest authority that all the “foreign” stones may 
very well have come from Devonshire, and never crossed the sea at all. 
Moreover, on page 7 he himself speaks of the existence of a regular coasting 
trade in pre-Roman times between Cornwall and the Isle of Thanet. As to 
the Durrington interment with a flint “spear head,’ &c., under a sarsen 
stone, which one of his critics appears to have brought forward as evidence 
of the Neolithic date of Stonehenge, Mr. Barclay is at much pains to argue 
that this interment itself must have been of the same date as the Romano- 
British Durrington settlement, close to which it was found. There seems, 
however, no reason why it should not have belonged to a far earlier age, but 


204 Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, §c., on Wiltshire Matters. 


it is difficult to see what bearing the question of its age can have in any 
way upon the date of Stonehenge, if the general mass of the barrows are 
ruled out of court, as Mr. Barclay rules them out, as having nothing to do 
with “the Temple,” and as being themselves of “ unknown age.” Altogether 


we do not seem to get much forwarder from the study of Mr. Barclay’s 
answers to his critics. 


Establishment of a Village Council and a Small Freehold Colony 
at Winterslow. The Landholders’ Court. Price Sixpence. Printed 
and published by the Salisbury Times Co. 8vo. N.D. [1894] Pp. 12. 

This pamphlet gives an account of the extremely interesting experiment 
of Major Poore at Winterslow, in the formation of a representative Parish 
Council—before the passing of the Local Government Act—and the 
establishment of a colony of freeholders cultivating their own land and 
governed by a “ Landholders’ Court.” 


Gleams of Sunshine in Dark Corners of Dorset and Wilts. What 
can Dorset and Wilts do in regard to Darkest England? 8vo 
pamphlet. Salisbury. 1896. Pp. 15. 2nd thousand. [By Rathmell G. 
Wilson.] With three process illustrations :— Our Toy Makers at Work,” 
“Toys made in Dorset and Wilts,’ and “Spare Time Exhibition at 
Dorchester, 1896.” This pamphlet, by the Secretary of the C.E.T.S. in the 
Diocese of Salisbury, sets forth the objects aimed at and the work done by 
that society, with special reference to the ‘‘ Spare Time Movement,” which 
proposes to give employment in the evenings to the men and boys of agri- 
cultural districts in making home-made toys. 


The Sarum Office Book. Primes and Hours (with other Services) 
for the use of Sarum Theological College). London: John Hodges, 
1897. 3/- nett. Pp. xxii., 132. Preface by the Bishop. 


Life and Work of Bishop Richard Poore. A valuable lecture at St. 
Edmund’s, Salisbury, by Mr. A. R. Malden, reported in Wiltshire County 
Mirror, April 2nd, 1897, in which he makes the interesting suggestion 
that the old quarries of Downshay, in the parish of Worth Maltravers, in 
the Isle of Purbeck, are those which furnished the Purbeck marble for 
Salisbury Cathedral, the manor of Worth Maltravers having then belonged 
to Alice Bruer, the donor of the marble. 


The Stourhead Collection in the Wiltshire Archzological Society’s 
Museum at Devizes. Article by the Rev. E. H. Goddard describing the 
principal objects in the collection, with 52 illustrations (from the Stourhead 


Catalogue). Reliquary and Illustrated Archeologist, Jan., 1897, pp. 
20—36. 


Malmesbury, the Old Corporation. An interesting account of the ancient 
system of municipal government, from the “Report on the Municipal 


= 


Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c., on Wiltshire Matters. 205 


Corporations of England,” published 1821, is given in an article on 
“ Malmesbury ” in Devizes Gazette, Feb. 25th, 1897. 


Wilts and Berks Canal. An account of the history and origin of this canal 
is given in the Devizes Gazette, April 29th, 1897. 


Wilts Pedigrees, &e. The Genealogist, New Series, XIII., pp. 145—152, 
contains ‘The Samborne Ancestry,” by V. C. Samborne, and “ Additional 
Wiltshire Pedigrees,” by W. C. Metcalfe (pp. 183—188), including Ashley, 
Aubrey, Bennett, Button, Darrell, Davenport, Grobham, and Jacob. 

Miscellanea Gen. § Herald. 3rd Series, Il., has notes on Priaulx 
pedigree, 125—-132; notes on D’Aranda of Calne and Bremhill, Stokes of 
Seend, pp. 134, 135, and pedigree of Pincke, p. 105. 

Knevett of Charlton, Lambert of Maiden Bradley, Richmond alias Webb 
of Rodborne, and Sadler of Everley, are given in The Genealogist, April, 
1897. 


Richard Jefferies. Swindon Advertiser, Dec. 12th, 1896. A long article 
on R. Jefferies as a first notice of “ Jefferies’ Land.” 


Wiltshire Stories. A column-and-a-half of these is contained in Anecdotes, 
Dec. 5th, 1896, of which one is in a sort of north country dialect ! 


A Tobacco Business of Two Centuries. In the Tobacco Trade Review, 
Nov., 1896, is an account of the tobacco and snuff works of Messrs. Anstie, 


at Devizes, with process illustrations of the New Offices in the Market 
Place, the Old Snuff Mills, and the New Snuff Mills. 


* Pleasant Memories of Angling,” by Alfred Jardine, in Fishing Gazette, 
Jan. 23rd, pp. 53, 54, and Jan. 30th, 1897, p. 71: an account of a few 
days’ fishing with Francis Francis twelve years ago over the waters from 
Wilton Park to Downton. 


Aldborne Church Bells. Article in Marlborough Times, Jan. 30th, 1897. 


Salisbury Bell Founders. A lecture on Church bells by Mr. J. R. Jerram, 
Wilts County Mirror, Nov. 27th, 1896. 


St. Thomas, Salisbury. An interesting lecture by Mr. E. Doran Webb, at 
the Blackmore Museum, describing the history and architecture of the 
Church. Fully reported in Salisbury Journal, Feb. 6th, 1897. 


Crown Hotel, Salisbury. Article on “ An Ancient Wiltshire Hostelry ” in 


t Lhe Caterer and Hotel Keepers’ Gazette, quoted in Devizes Gazette, 
4 April lst, 1897. 


e 


206 Recent Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c., on Wiltshire Matters. 


Salisbury Parliament. Notes and Queries, Jan. 2nd, 1897, pp. 1, 2, 
contains an article by Hamilton Hall on “The Parliamentary Writ of 25 
Edward I.,” for a Parliament to meet at Salisbury. 


“Salisbury ” is the subject of a special edition of ‘‘ Views and Reviews,” 
published by W. T. Pike & Co., Brighton. Demy 4to. Sewn. pp. 5—48. 
Of these, thirteen pages are devoted to a sketch of the history of the city 
and its principal institutions and buildings—the remainder is practically a 
trade directory or advertisement, with process views of shops and portraits 
of their owners. Altogether there are sixty-one photo-process illustrations. 
Amongst the most interesting are:—The Church House, The Training 
College, The Market Square, The Firing of the Feu de Joie at the Jubilee in 
1887, A Group of Morris Dancers with the Giant, A View of Old Sarum, 
and Crane Bridge. Some of the illustrations are quite good. 


Salisbury Plain. A child’s story of how the fairies made a famous smith of 
an old shepherd of the Plain, by Vida Briss, in The Sunday Mag., May, 
1897, pp. 339-340, entitled “‘ Horse Shoe!” 


George Herbert. Short notice in Daily Mail, Feb. 4th, quoted in Wilts 
County Mirror, Feb, 5th, 1897. 


Wiltshire Orchards. “The Wasted Orchards of England : some Truths about 
British Fruit Growing.” By the Gardener's Magazine Special Com. 
missioner. London: W.H. & L. Collingridge. [1897.] 6d. 

The Wiltshire section is at pp. 106—110. It says Wilts ought to be 
noted for apple orchards, but has very few at present. ‘‘ Nowhere do apples 
Jay on more colour, and where good culture is practised the weight of the 
individual fruit is also remarkable.’’ Very good orchards noted about 
Bradford-on-Avon, and very bad ones about Wootton Bassett. Bromham, 
Bratton, and Heddington are commended. 


The Wool-weavers of Winterslow. Chambers’ Journal, part 158, March, 
1897, pp. 126-7. A brief sketch of what promises to be a successful ex- 
periment. 


The Road Murder. ‘ Famous Trials: The Road Mystery,” by J. B. Atlay, 
pp. 80—94 of Cornhill Magazine, Jan., 1897. 


Diogenes’ Sandals, by Mrs. Arthur Kennard. Remingtons. 1893. The 
scene is laid at ‘‘ Summerslow,” z.e., Winterslow. Two friends rent shooting 
there, and camp out in an old railway carriage converted into a hut on the 
downs. The local colouring in the story is not bad, and there are a good 
many Wiltshire words and phrases. 


Devizes Fifty Years Ago—and Now. An interesting article in The 
Devizes Advertiser, May 20th, 1897, contrasting the condition of the town 


Books and Articles by Wiltshiremen. 207 


in 1847 and in 1897, and giving a large amount of information as to the 
principal buildings and inhabitants at the earlier date, and as to the changes 
which have taken place in the last fifty years. It is stated that in only 
eight instances are business premises occupied now by the same families 
who occupied them in 1847. 


Stonehenge. A leading article in The Standard, May 14th, 1897, dealing 
with the danger to the structure likely to arise if the Great Western Railway 
makes a station near it on the light railway up the Avon valley, and the 
necessity of providing for its protection. 


On Southern English Roads. By James John Hissey. London ; 
Bentley & Son. 1896. Price 16/- In this volume Mr. Hissey describes 
his journeyings through Wiltshire from west to east—passing Trowbridge, 
Seend, Devizes, Upavon, Everley, Ludgershall, and other villages. Noticed, 
Wilts Notes and Queries, Dec., 1896. 


The Saints and Missionaries of the Anglo-Saxon Era. First Series. 
By the Rev. D. C. O. Adams . . . . Mowbray & Co. Oxford and 
London. Cr. 8vo. 1897. The Kingdom of Wessex has only five saints to 
show, of whom Birinus and Aldhelm alone concern us in Wilts. To the life 
of the latter eleven pages are given, and the Saxon Church at Bradford-on- 
Avon is illustrated. 


Books and Articles bu Wiltshirenen. 


The Principle of the Incarnation with especial reference to the 
Relation between Our Lord’s Divine Omniscience and His 
Human Consciousness. By the Rev. H. C. Powell, M.A., of 
Oriel College, Oxford, Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral and 
Rector of Wylye, Wilts. Longmans. 8vo. London. 1897. Price 


16/-. Pp. xxxi., 4b3. Noticed in Guardian and Salisbury Diocesan 
Gazette, March, 1897. 


English and Dutch Dairy Farming. Article by E. C. Trepplin and H. 
Herbert Smith in Nineteenth Century Mag., Nov., 1896. 


The Evils of Gambling. A forcible article by Mrs. Whytehead (wife of 
the Rector of St. Peter’s, Marlborough), in Mothers in Council, Jan.., 
% 1897, pp. 18—25. 


208 Books and Articles by Wiltshiremen. 


Mrs. H. R. Whytehead. “Queen and Mother. A Keepsake for Mothers 
for 1897." Sewn. Oblong 24mo. London. Pp.1l. Priceld. A useful 
little booklet. 


Chilbury Folk. By C. E. M. [Margaret E. Clarke, daughter of the late 
Rector of Compton Bassett]. Pub. by S.P.C. K. Sm. cr. 8vo. Cloth. 
Pp. 92. A well-written little story, dealing with the belief in the evil eye 
in the down country of Dorset (?). 


Sworn Allies. A story, by the same authoress (“ M.E. Le Clerc”). 
Favourably noticed in Guardian, May 26th, 1897. 


The House of Cromwell, by James Waylen. A new and revised edition ; 
with an introductory chapter on the ancestors of Oliver Cromwell by Rev. 
J. G. Cromwell, M.A. Pub. by Elliot Stock. Demy 8vo. Cloth. 1897. 
Price 8/6. 


Insects and Insect Life. Lecture by Mr. C. R. Straton, at the 
Blackmore Museum. Reported at length, Salisbury Journal, March 
27th, 1897. 


Sir J. Dickson Poynder. Devizes Gazette, Feb. 11th and 18th, 1897, 
reports at length an interesting lecture, at Chippenham, on Sir John’s recent 
travels on the N.W. frontier of India. 


Tobacco and Pipes. A very interesting lecture, at the Blackmore Museum, 
Salisbury, by Dr. H. P. Blackmore. Reported in Salisbury Journal, Dec. 
5th, 1896. Dr. Blackmore dwelt on the fine collection of prehistoric pipes 
from the North American mounds, in the Museum, and the interesting fact 
that the Toucan and the Manatee are represented amongst their carvings, 
though these creatures were only found thousands of miles away in South 
America. These pipes were carved by people of the Bronze Age. The 
lecturer then traced the growth and variation of pipes in England, from the 
original silver pipes first used, through the small “fairy pipes” of Stuart 
days, to the Gauntlett Pipes of Amesbury and Salisbury, of which the 
Museum possesses a large number; and touched on the modern Red Indian 
pipes of North America, and those of Eastern nations—mentioning amongst 
other matters of much interest the fact that the original idea of the tobacco 
stopper was to put the pipe out after the smoker had taken two or three 
whiffs, so that the same pipeful might be re-lighted when desired. 


Migration of Birds. A lecture, at the Blackmore Museum, by the Rev. A. 
P. Morres, touching on the partial migration of the “ resident” species of 
birds, and on the causes which govern migration. Wilts County Mirror, 
Dec. 18th, 1896. 


Personal Notices. 209 


Emma Marie Caillard has a paper on “ Force” in the May (1897) number 
of Good Words, pp. 314—318. 


The Very Rev. G. D. Boyle, Dean of Salisbury, writes on “Some 
Recollections of 1870”—when he happened to be travelling abroad in the 
early days of the Franco-German War—in Good Words, May, 1897, pp. 
306—308. 


Richard Jefferies. “T. T. T.” Pub. by A. Young, Wells. 1896. Brown 
paper covers. Price 1/- nett. Pp. 26. Only one hundred copies printed. 
A reprint of a story from the North Wilts Herald, 1866, to complete the 
“Early Fiction” volume. Probably the title means “Tea and Toast 
Tyranny,” as the squiress therein insists on her domestics and others living 
thereon. . 


Richard Jefferies. The Pageant of Summer. Brought out as a booklet 
on Japan vellum. 1896. Limited edition. By Mosher, of Portland, Maine, 
U.S.A. 


W.H. Hammond Jones. Nursery Rhymes and Rigmarolia with 
tunes. First Series. London and New York. Novello, Ewer & Co. 
1896. 2/6. Royal 8vo. Sewn. Pp. 42. Noticed favourably in Western 
Times, March 9th, Lloyd's Weekly, Jan. 24th, The Strad, March, and 
Musical Standard, Jan. 16th, 1897. 


194 Old Nursery Rhymes and Songs with New Tunes. 
Second Series. London and New York. Novello. 1896. 2/6. Royal 8vo. 
Sewn. Pp. 42. 


Dr. Charles W. Pearce (native of Salisbury). A Whitsuntide Anthem; 
“The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost,” in Musical Supplement to The 
Organist and Choirmaster, April, 1897. 


Rey. A. P. Morres [A. P. M., Sarum]. Hymn for the Sixtieth Commemo- 
ration of the Queen’s Accession. 


Personal Notices. 


His Honour Judge Cammille F. Desire Caillard. Notices of his 
career on his resignation of the County Court Judgeship. Devizes Gazette, 
Jan. 7th, Wiltshire Times, Jan. 9th, 1897. 


210 Portraits. 


The Marquis of Bath. A short notice of the present Marquis, as a text for 
an article on the family of Thynne and their descent from the Botevilles of 
Church Stretton. Hecho, Jan. 21st, 1897. 


Mr. John Fuller. As candidate for Salisbury. Notice of his career. 
Salisbury and Wilton Times, Jan. 22nd, 1897. 


Mr. Edward Henry Hulse. A sketch of his connection with Salisbury as 
M.P. Wilts County Mirror, Jan. 22nd, 1897. 


Mr. and Mrs. Henry Allhusen (Unionist candidate for Salisbury). Notice. 
Wilts County Mirror, Jan. 22nd, 1897. 


Duchess of Somerset. Notice by Mrs. Darling Baker in Madame. Quoted 
by Devizes Gazette, Nov. 26th, 1896. 


‘Earl Nelson. An interview, with portraits of Earl and Countess. Church 
Bells, Dec., quoted Wilts County Mirror, Dec. 11th, 1896. 


Sir Michael Hicks-Beach. The Spectator, Feb. 13th, 1897, has an article 
on “the evolution of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach into a statesman of the first 
class.” 


Rt. Hon. Walter Long. Truth, April 22nd, 1897, has a really funny 
parody of Goldsmith’s “ Elegy on the death of a bad Dog,” apropos of the 
muzzling order, beginning 

‘Good people all of every sort 
Give ear unto my song, 
Which I engage shall be but short 
Though ’tis of Walter Long.” 


Portraits. 


The Marquis of Bath, and Viscount Folkestone, M.P., as movers of 
the address in the Houses of Parliament. Woodcuts. Illustrated London 
News, Jan. 16th, 1897. 


Mr. Henry Allhusen and Mrs. Henry Allhusen.  Photo-process. 
Supplement to Wilts County Mirror and Express, Jan. 19th. Pub. 
Edward Roe & Co., Salisbury. Black and White, Jan. 30th, 1897. 


Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire. Excellent photo-process. Country Life 
Illustrated, Jan. 8th, 1897. 


Illustrations. 211 


Sir Isaac Pitman. Good photo-provess. Illustrated London News, Jan. 
30th. Woodcut. Christian Herald, Feb, 4th. Process. Black and 
White, Jan. 30th, 1897. i 


Earl and Countess Nelson. Process portraits, Church Bells, Dec., 1896. 
Mr. John Fuller. Process. Black and White, Jan. 30th, 1897. 
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach. Process. Black and White, Jan. 30th, 1897. 


Miss Louise B. Poore, d. of Major R. Poore, of Old Lodge, Salisbury, 
Process. Lady, Dec. 10th, 1896. 


Duke and Duchess of Somerset, in hunting costume in the Far West, 
with notice of the Duchess as a traveller. Lady’s Realm, March, 1897. 


Mr. John Mullins, the late water-finder of Colerne. A portrait is included 


amongst the illustrations of an article on “The Divining Rod,” in 
Pearson’s Mag., March, 1897. 


Mr. Ernest Terah Hooley. Cartoon portrait in Vanity Fair, Dec. 17th, 
1896, entitled “Papworth.” 


[llustrations. 


Milston Church. An illustration of “ Flooded floor in Milston Church, near 
Amesbury,” occurs in an article on “ Floods” in Strand Mazg., April, 1897. 


_ “The Halliday Pew in Warminster Church,” and “The Pew thrown 


out into the adjoining field.” Two photo-process illustrations in The 
Sketch, April 14th, 1897. 


- Warminster Church. ° Exterior, illustrated as an example of Sir Arthur 
Blomfield’s work, in Church Bells, May 14th, 1897. 


Swindon, Clarence Street Board Schools. Illustration, North Wilts 
Herald, April 9th, 1897. 


Wiltshire Regiment. Polo Centrepiece for Officers’ Mess of the 


2nd Battalion. Process Illustration. Zlustrated London News, May 
1st, 1897. 


Salisbury, House in the Close. A good folio plate of the front elevation. 


Photo-litho, from drawing by R. Shekleton Balfour. Architect. Assoc, 
Sketch Book, 3rd Series, Vol. II. 


212 Wilts Obituary. 


Steeple Ashton Manor House—The Granary. Folio plate, containing 
south and west elevations and plan. Photo-litho, from drawings by R. 
Shekleton Balfour. Architect. Assoc. Sketch Book, 3rd Series, Vol. II. 


Edington Church—Pulpit. Folio plate—elevation and details. Ink photo, 
from drawings by R. Shekleton Balfour. Architect. Assoc. Sketch Book, 
3rd Series, Vol. II. 


Hilts Obituary. 


Sir Isaac Pitman. Died January 22nd, 1897, at Bath, cremated at Woking. 
Born January 4th, 1813. Son of Samuel Pitman, then manager of the 
cloth factory of Mr. James Edgell, at Trowbridge, afterwards owner of a 
factory, at first at Trowbridge, later om removed to Kingston House, 
Bradford-on-Avon. Isaac was educated at the Trowbridge Grammar 
School, and, after serving a while as clerk in the cloth factory, went to the 
Normal College of the British and Foreign School Society, after leaving 
which he became master of the British School at Burton-on-Humber (1832), 
and subsequently at Wootton-under-Edge (1836). He married, first, Mary, 
widow of Mr. George Holgate, of Barton, who died 1857; and secondly 
Isabella, daughter of Mr. James Masters. In 1837 he joined the “ New 
Church” (Swedenborgian), and was accordingly dismissed from the service 
of the B. & F. School Society. He was also a strict teetotaller, vegetarian, 
non-smoker, and anti-vaccinationist. In 1837 he took up the study of 
shorthand, and issued a little book containing the cardinal principles of the 
system that he afterwards perfected—the writing of sounds instead of letters, 
Stenographic Sound-hand, by Isaac Pitman. London: Samuel Bagster. 
Price Fourpence. Royal 32mo. Pp. 12. The first edition of three 
thousand copies were sold by 1839, when he removed to Bath, where for a 
time he kept a private school. The second edition, “ Phonography, or 
Writing by Sound, being also a New and Natural System of Shorthand,” 
was issued as a penny plate in 1840; and in 1842 the first number of his 
monthly Phonographic Journal appeared. From 1843 he gave himself up 
entirely to the development and propagation of Phonography and Phonetic 
spelling, writing and lecturing all over England in the most indefatigable 
way. In 1845 he established a printing press in his own house, from which 
the Phonotypic Journal and other works were issued. Phonography 
reached a sixth edition in 1844, and a seventh in 1845. The Fonetic Niuz, 


Sir 


Wilts Obituary. 213 


a paper started in 1849 in conjunction with Mr. A. J. Ellis, advocating 
phonetic spelling reform, expired within a year. In 1850 he published The 
Bible in phonetic spelling. The Phonographic Teacher, The Phonographic 
Reporter’s Companion (1846), The Vocabulary, The Phonographic 
Instructor —of which fifteen thousand copies were sold in 1852-3— 
The Manual, The Phrase Book, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Phonetic 
Reading Books contained the full development of the shorthand system 
begun in his earlier works. By 1862 one hundred and seventy thousand 
copies of The Manual, two hundred and eighty-five thousand of The 
Teacher, and twenty-five thousand of The Reporter had been issued. In 
1867 he published a large work, The Reporter's Assistant, the first edition 
of which was lithographed, the second printed. ‘“ Phonography”’ reached 
its seventeenth edition in 1888, and an immense number of standard works 
printed in shorthand were issued from the Phonetic Institute. In 1887 the 
Jubilee of Phonography was celebrated by a gathering of phonographers 
from all parts of the British Empire, and gold medals and a marble bust 
were presented to Mr. Pitman. In 1894, at the instance of Lord Roseberry, 
he received the honour of knighthood. He lived to see his system of 
shorthand in use by 95 per cent. of the reporters in the English-speaking 
world; whilst, on the other hand, the system of phonetic spelling which he 
so long laboured to advance—in spite of its advocacy by Professor Max 
Miiller and others—has made no practical impression. The Times (leading 
article and obit. notice, Jan. 23rd, 1897) says of him: “ His death closes a 
useful and unpretentious life. It may fairly be said of him that many a 
more famous man has done less good in his generation. He worked with 
remarkable success in an industrial bye-path of his own, and will be re- 
membered, not as the advocate of a futile attempt to change the spelling of 
our language, but as the ‘inventor of an admirable system of shorthand 
which has had a considerable though indirect influence on our newspapers 
and our politics.’’ ‘The single-minded earnestness with which Sir Isaac 
Pitman followed out his chosen course during a long and laborious life 
deserves all praise.’ A good sketch of his life and character, by T. A. Reed, 
appeared in the New-Church Mag., March, 1897: the same writer having 
published in 1890 “ A Biography of Isaac Pitman (Inventor of Phono- 
graphy), illustrated; London: Griffith, Farran, &c. ; cloth, post 8vo, pp. 
vii., 191; with two portraits and process of the bust by Brock. Portraits 
also appeared in the Idlustrated London News, January 30th, and Christian 
Herald, Feb. 4th; and full obit. notices in Times, Daily Chromicle, and 
Standard, Jan. 23rd, and Devizes Gazette, Jan. 28th, 1897. 


Thomas Fraser Grove, Bart. Died Jan. 14th, 1897. Buried at 
Berwick St. John. Son of Dr. John Grove, of Ferne, and the Wardrobe, 
in the Close, Salisbury, by Jean Helen, d. of Sir William Fraser, Bart. 
Born Nov. 27th, 1821. Joined Inniskilling Dragoons, 1842 ; Capt., 1847; 
retired, 1859. He was many years connected with the Wilts Yeomanry, 
joining as Cornet in 1852, becoming Honorary Lt.-Col. in 1881, and retiring 
in 1888. M.P. for South Wilts, 1865—1874, and for the Wilton Division, 
1885—1892. Succeeded to the Ferne estates on the death of his father in 


214 


Rt. 


Wilts Obituary. 


1858. Created baronet, 1874. Member of the County Council, Deputy 
Lieutenant, J.P., and High Sheriff of Wilts, 1863. Also J.P. for Dorset. 
Married, first, 1847, Katherine Grace, second d. of Hon. Walter O'Grady, 
Q.C., of Castle Garde, Co. Limerick, who died in 1879 ; and secondly, 1882, 
Frances Hinton, d. of Henry Northcote, of Oakfield, Crediton, and widow, 
successively, of Capt. Herbert Crosse and the Hon. Fred. Barnewall Best. 
Succeeded by his son, Walter John, born 1852. As a politician his career 
was marked by more than one change of sides—the result of his sturdy 
independence and complete indifference to other people’s opinions. He sat 
as a Liberal from 1865 to 1874, and again in 1885, opposed the Home Rule 
Bill and was returned unopposed as a Unionist in 1886, but afterwards 
rejoined the Gladstonian Liberals, and was defeated by the Conservative 
candidate in 1892, He was essentially a robust and manly country gentle- 
man, taking great interest in all country and county business—and a 
Churchman of distinctly Protestant type. The Mark Lane Express says 
of him: “He was a politician who cared more for agriculture than all 
the other interests that enamoured constituencies.” The Agricultural 
Economist, quoted in Wilts County Mirror, Feb. 12th, 1897, says: ‘‘ His 
natural mental courage made him a singularly attractive man. He was as 
popular amongst his opponents as with his friends.” Obit. Notices, Devizes 
Gazette, Jan. 21st; Salisbury and Wilton Times, Jan. 22nd ; Salisbury 
Diocesan Gazette, Feb., 1897. 


Rev. Edward Wyndham Tufnell. Died Sept. 3rd, 1896, aged 83. 
Born 1814. Son of Mr. John Charles Tufnell, of Walcot, Somerset. 
Educated at Eton and Wadham College, Oxon. Fellow of Wadham College. 
B.A., 1837; M.A., 1842; D.D., 1859. Deacon (Oxford), 1837; priest 
(Sarum), 1839. Curate of Broadwindsor, Dorset, 1837—40 ; Broad Hinton, 
Wilts, 1840—46; Rector of Beechingstoke, Wilts, 1846—57; Preb. of 
Sarum, 1850—59; Rector of St. Peter’s, Marlborough, 1857-59; first 
Bishop of Brisbane, 1859—75, when he resigned and returned to England ; 
Curate of Charing, 1877—79; Vicar and Rural Dean of Croydon, 1879—82 ; 
Vicar of Felpham and Canon Residentiary of Chichester, 1882 until his death. 
Obit. notices, Morning Post, Sussex Daily News, Salisbury Journal, 
Dec. 5th, Guardian, Dec. 16th; with portraits, in Lllustrated London 
News, Dec. 11th, and Church Bells, Dec. 11th, 1896. 


Rev. Skinner Chart Mason. Died Dec. 19th, aged 74. Scholar of St. 


Cath. Coll., Camb. B.A., 1845; M.A., 1855. Deacon, 1846 ; priest, 1846. 
Curate of Winkfield, Berks, 1846—49; Sherborne, 1849—53; Rector of 
Magdalen Laver, Essex, 1853—55 ; Rector of St. Clement Danes, 1855—60 ; 
Vicar of Urchfont, 1860—96. Rural Dean of Enford Portion of Deanery 
of Potterne, 1891. He resigned the living of Urchfont a few months before 


his death. 


Rey. George Ellis Cleather. Died Jan. 2nd, 1897. Exeter Coll., Oxford. 


B.A., 1846 ; M.A., 1855. Deacon, 1847; priest, 1848 (Sarum). Curate of 
Baydon, Wilts, ;1847—50; Alton Barnes and Alton Priors, 1850—52 ; 


Wilts Obituary. 215 


Chirton, 1853—62 ; Vicar of Chirton, 1862—88 ; Rector of Brixton Deverill, 
1888 until his death. Rural Dean of Potterne, Enford Portion, 1885—88. 
A ‘conscientious parish priest, well skilled in Church music. Obit. notices. 
Warminster Journal, Devizes Gazette, Jan. 14th, Salisbury Diocesan 
Gazette, Feb., 1897. 


James Luckett J efferies, father of Richard J efferies, died at Bath, where 
he had resided for some years, on Dec. 24th, 1896, aged 80. 


Thomas Browne Anstie. Died Jan. 3rd, 1897. Buried at the New Baptist 
Chapel, Devizes. Practised at Devizes as surgeon for over fifty years. 
Senior deacon of the New Baptist Chapel. J.P., 1892. A pronounced 


Liberal in politics, in which he took an active part. Obit. notice, Devizes 
Gazette, Jan. 7th, 1897. 


Rey. Samuel Henry Pemberton Whittuck. Died at Bath, Dec., 1896, 
aged 53. After serving in the 8th Hussars he was ordained deacon, 1879, 
priest, 1880, by the Bishop of Durham. Curate of Alnwick, 1879—82 ; 
Eglingham, Northumb., 1882 ; Felton, Northumb., 1882—85 ; Bath Abbey, 
1885—89 ; Vicar of Heywood, Wilts, 1889. 


William Perkins Clark, J.P., of the firm of J. & T. Clark, woollen cloth 
manufacturers, of Trowbridge, died Feb. 20th, 1897, aced 76. He was one 
of the first to identify himself with the Volunteer movement, and in 1860 
joined the Trowbridge corps, in which he afterwards held the rank of major. 
He held the office of churchwarden for nearly forty years, and was chairman 
of the Local Board, and afterwards of the Urban District Council. A staunch 
Conservative in politics. Greatly respected in Trowbridge. Obit. notice, 
Devizes Gazette, Feb. 25th, 1897. 


Rev. Horace Meyer. Died March 14th, 1897. Buried at North Mimms, 
Herts. St. Cath. Coll. Camb. B.A., 1855; M.A., 1859. Deacon, 1855 ; 
priest, 1856, by Bp. of Worcester. Curate of Ch. Ch., Birmingham, 1855-56 ; 
Vicar of North Mimms, Herts, 1856—64 ; Rector of Tisted, Hants, 1864—69 ; 
Trowbridge, 1869—81; Ch. Ch., Clifton, 1881—93. Obit. notice, Devizes 
Gazette, March 18th, 1897. 


Lord Charles William Brudenell Bruce. Born June 9th, 1834; died 
April 16th, 1897. Buried at St. Katherine’s, Savernake. Third son of the 
first Marquis of Ailesbury by his second wife, Maria: Elizabeth, d. of Hon. 
Charles Tollemache. Educated at Eton and Ch. Ch., Oxford. B.A., 1855. 
Married, 1860, Augusta Georgiana Sophia, third daughter of Mr. F.C. W. 
Seymour. He was Liberal M.P. for North Wilts, 1865—1874; M.P. for 
Marlborough, 1878—85. Vice-Chamberlain of Her Majesty’s Household, 
1880—85, when he was made a Privy Councillor. Served for a short time 
in the Ist Life Guards, and held a commission in the Wilts Yeomanry. 
Obit. notices, Guardian, April 28th, Standard, April 21st, 1897. 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVII. Q 


216 Wilts Obituary. 


Lady Victoria Catherine Mary Pole-Tylney-Long- Wellesley. Died 
March 29th, 1897. Buried at Draycot Cerne. Born 1818. Her mother, 
who married the fourth Earl of Mornington, was the daughter and heiress 
of Sir James Tylney Long, of Draycot. She resided at West Stoke, in 
Sussex, where she was well known for her munificent charity. Obit. 
notices, Wilts County Mirror, April 9th, Salisbury Journal, April 10th. 


James Rew Shopland, C.E. Died April 22nd, aged 55. Buried at Purton. 
Born at Exeter he came to Swindon in 1870, removing to Purton a year or 
so later—from which place he migrated again to Swindon three years ago. 
As a civil enginewr he carried out important works in many parts of England. 
He was consulting engineer to the Midland and S.W. Junction Railway, 
and for some years had acted as Local Secretary to the Wilts Archeological 
Society. Obit. notice, Devizes Gazette, April 29th, 1897. 


Blanche Elizabeth Adelaide, Marchioness of Waterford, d. of the 8th 
Duke of Beaufort. Born 1856. Married, 1874, John Henry, fifth Marquis 
of Waterford. Died, 1897. A long and very interesting obituary notice, by 
M.M., in the Observer, and another, by J.G.T., in the Guardian, are 
quoted in the Devizes Gazette, March 11th, 1897. Both bear witness to 
the very remarkable character of the life so early ended. Her beauty, her 
wonderful charm, her great accomplishments, her piety—above all, her 
“unique unselfishness”—are dwelt upon by those who knew her as the ; 
characteristics which made her “undoubtedly one of the most potent 
influences for good in London society.” ‘‘ Many qualities were combined 
in Lady Waterford’s irresistible influence, but the bond of them all was 
undoubtedly the singular charm of her utterly unconscious unselfishness.” 
“A singularly noble and beautiful life.” 


Henrietta Louisa Lear, daughter of J. W. Farrer, Esq., of Ingleborough, 
Yorks, Master in Chancery. Born July 7th, 1824. Married, 1859, the 
Rev. Sidney H. Lear, brother-in-law and chaplain of Bishop Hamilton. 
Died at Salisbury Nov. 8th, 1896, aged 73. Buried in the Cloisters. Left 
a widow in 1867 she lived since 1871 in the Close at Salisbury, closely 
identifying herself with Church work of divers kinds in the diocese and 
beyond it, and ever ready to give generously of her means for its support. 
Keenly interested in women’s work her name was well known in connection 
with sisterhoods in the North and South of England. The Salisbury 
Theological College owed much to her, the chapel especially being entirely 
her gift. The screen in the Cathedral was erected by her to the memory 
of her husband, and the beautiful altar cloths—fine examples of modern 
needlework—were given and worked by her. A working men’s club in 
Salisbury also owes its existence to her generosity. Obit. notices, Guardian, 
Nov. 18th, Standard, Nov. 17th, Wilts County Mirror, Nov. 13th, 
Salisbury Diocesan Gazette, Dec., 1896. 

Her literary powers, which were very considerable, were also devoted to 
the service of the Church, and amongst others she published the following 


Wilts Obituary. 2177 


works, several of them well-known books of devotion, which have been 

translated into French, German, and Italian :— 

Roveu List or Worxs By Mars. Sipnry Lexar. 

. Aunt Atta. [Anonymous. 1851 or earlier.] 

Aunt Atta again, or, The Long Vacation. London. J. F. Hayes. N.D. 
Memoir of Rev. Sidney H. Lear. Privately printed. 1868. 

A Dominican Artist, a Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Pére Besson of the 

: Order of St. Dominic. Cr. 8vo. 1870. 

Ditto new edition. Cr. 8vo. 1879. 

The Revival of Priestly Life in the 17th Century in France. Cr. 8vo. 
Cloth. 9s. 1873. 

Ditto new edition. Rivingtons. Cr. 8vo. 1877. 3/6. 

Ditto new edition. Rivingtons. Cr. 8vo. 1883. 3/6. 

Fathers of the Church, edited by Rev. W. J. E. Bennett (containing Lives 
of St. Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, Irenzeus, Tertullian, 
Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Cyprian, Gregory Thaumaturgus, 
Dionysius, Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzen, Chrysostom, 
Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, Cyril, and Ephrem). Three vols. Fcap. 
8vo. J. F. Hayes. 1873 and 1875. 

The Light of the Conscience, with Introduction by T. T. Carter. Post 
8vo. 1876. 

Ditto new edition. 32mo. 1892. 1/-, and 6d. 

Life of Madame Louise de France, daughter of Louis XV. Cr. 8vo. 1877. 

Bossuet and his Contemporaries. Cr. 8vo. 12/-, 1874; 1880; 12mo, 
3/6, 1882. 

Henrique Dominique Lacordaire, a Biographical Sketch. Cr. 8vo. 
Rivingtons. 1882. 7/6. 

A Christian Painter of the 19th Century, being the Life of Hippolyte 
Flandrin. Cr. 8vo. 1875. 7/6 

St. Francis de Sales. (Biography). Cr. 8vo. 

Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambrai. (Biography.) Cr. 8vo. 

Henri Perreyve, by Pére Gratry. (Biography.) 

Weariness: a Book for Languid and Lonely. Feap. 8vo. 1885. 5/-. 
New editions, feap. 8vo., 5/-, Rivingtons, 1881—5. 

For Days and Years. (Containing text, short reading, and hymn for 
every day in the Church’s year). 16mo. Rivingtons. 1882—6. New 
editions, 32mo, 2/6, 1/6, 1/-. 14th edition, 1896, 2/6. Longmans. 

Five Minutes. Daily Readings of Poetry. 16mo. 3/6. Rivingtons. 
1877. New editions, 1881—5, 3/6, 1/6, and 1/. 

Maigre Cookery. 16mo. Rivingtons. 1884. 2/-. 


She also edited the following works :— 
Fenelon’s Spiritual Letters to Men. 16mo. 
Fenelon’s Spiritual Letters to Women. 16mo. 
A Selection from the Spiritual Letters of St. Francis de Sales. 16mo. 
Ditto cheap edition. 32mo. 
A Selection from Pascal’s “Thoughts.” 16mo. 
‘The Hidden Life of the Soul. 16mo. 


218 Additions to Museum. 


The Spirit of St Francis de Sales. 16mo. 

Of the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales. 

Self-Renunciation. From the French, with an introduction by the Rev. 
T, T. Carter. x 

Here and there: Quaint Quotations, a Book of Wit. Post 8vo. Riving- 
tons. 1881. 5/-. 

Precious Stones. Three vols. 48mo. 1/- each. 

Sunrise, Noon, Sunset. Selections from various Authors. Three vols. 
Rivingtons. 1882. 3/-, 2/-, 1/- each. 

Tales of Kirkbeck. Three vols. 12mo. Griffiths. 1894. 

Toy: a Fragment by the late Mrs. Sidney Lear. Prefaced by a slight 
Sketch of the Author’s Life. cap. 8vo. London. Longmans, 
1897. 2/6. 


Rey. George Edward Gardiner. Died May 20th, 1897. B.N.C., Oxford. 
B.A,, 1864; M.A.,1867. Deacon, 1866; priest, 1867. Curate of Farnham, 
1866--68 ; Batheaston, 1868—70; Cole Orton, 1870—73 ; Buxton (Norf.), 
1873—4,; Vicar of Box, 1874 until his resignation two years ago. 


Rev. Tupper Carey. Died April 27th, 1897, aged 73. Buried in Guernsey. 
Ch. Ch., Oxford. B.A., 1846; M.A., 1842. Deacon, 1847 ; priest, 1848. 
Curate of Longbridge Deverill, 1847—59; East Harnham, 1859—61 ; 
Rector of Fifield Bavant and Vicar of Ebbesborne Wake, 1861 ; Rural Dean 
of Chalke and Diocesan Inspector of Schools, 1862. He restored the Church 
and built the vicarage at Ebbesborne Wake. 


Additions to Aasenm. 


Presented by Mr. W. Brown: Coin, Hen. VIII., found at Potterne. 
a4 Mr. C. H. Tatsor: Example of the lead dowels used in the 
chimneys of Lacock Abbey, temp. Ed. VI. 


fs Mr. W. Wituimot: Shells. 

- Mr. W. Srrarron: Fine Bronze Fibula, pair of Tweezers, Iron 
Chain, &c., from the Romano-British Settlement on Cold Kitchen 
Hill. 


e Mr. A. Hargis: Brass Finger Ring, found in the churchyard (?) 
of Winterbourne Bassett i 


ae 


Additions to Library. 219 


Bequeathed by the late Rev. G. E. Cuzarnze: Case of British Birds from the 


collection of Mr. Ernle Warriner. 


Purchased :— Wilts Token :— 


THOMAS . WALKER=HIS HALFE PENNY 
IN . BRADFORD . MERCER=T.B.W. 


This token is unpublished. 


Additions to Hibcarp. 


Presented by Mr. H. E. Mapuicorr: Massinger’s Plays, four vols. 


“Satispury Times” Company: “Establishment of a Village 
Council and a Small Freehold Colony at Winterslow.” 

Mus. Eyre Marcuam: Eleven Wilts Pamphlets. 

Mr. A. Dawzs: Paper on Stonehenge, and plate, in The 
Astrologer. 

Mr. G. W. Ross: Wilts Pamphlet. 

Mr. A. Scuomsgre: Two Wilts Pamphlets, and Newspaper 
Cuttings. 

Tue AvrHoR: Salisbury Cathedral, by the Very Rev. Dean Boyle. 

Mr. G. E. Darrnett: Izaac Walton’s Lives, and Hobbes’ 
Leviathan, with Morley’s Introductions. 1888.— Original 
Poems (Salisbury.) —-Wilts Pamphlets. 

Mg. J. Harpine: Coloured Drawings of Wall Paintings in 
Sub-Chantry House, Salisbury. 

Rav. G. 8. Mastrer: Bishop Burnet’s History of his own Time, 
two vols., folio. — Armfield’s Legend of Christian Art. — 
Hore and Hoare ; Early History and Genealogy. 

Tas AvutHorgss: Old Wiltshire Market Towns and Villages, by 
M. K. Dowding. 1896. 

Tue AvuTHor: A Parish on Wheels, by the Rev. J. H. Swinstead. 
1896. 

Tus PusiisHERs (Messrs. G. Bell & Sons) : The Cathedral 
Church of Salisbury. 1896. 


220 Additions to Library. 


Presented by Mz. B. H. Cunninerton : Cuttings. 

i Mr. W. F. Pagsons: Wootton Bassett Almanack. 

3 Mz. A. D. Passmorz: Vathek, by W. Beckford. 

PA THe AvtHor: A History of Freemasonry in Wiltshire, by F. H. 
Goldney. Portrait of Sir G. Goldney, Bart. 

# Tue Ercuer, Mr. W. Brown: Thirteen Etchings of Salisbury. 

2 Me. R. SHEKLETON Batrovrz: Plates, from Drawings, of 
Granary at Steeple Ashton, Pulpit at Edington, and House in 
the Close at Salisbury. 

ns Miss Fr1npine: Paper by Canon Jackson on the Execution of 
Ankarette Twynyho. 

23 Mr. C. H. Taxsot: Set of Photographs of Old Furniture at 
Lacock Abbey. 

5: THE Arcuitect, Mr. H. Brakspear: Print of Proposed New 
Chancel, Lacock Church. 


HURRY & PEARSON, Printers and Publishers, Devizes. 
é 


SECOND REPORT 


OF THE COMMITTEE 


FOR PROMOTING THE 


TRANSCRIPTION AND PUBLICATION 


OF 


PARISH REGISTERS, 


WITH CALENDAR OF REGISTERS 


Printed and transcribed since the jirst Revort of 1892. 


PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE CONGRESS OF 
ARCHAZOLOGICAL SOCIETIES IN UNION WITH THE 
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. 


1896 


CONGRESS OF ARCHAOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 


Report of the Parish Register 
Committee, 1896. 


The Committee in issuing the present supplement to their Report 
and Lists of 1892 have great pleasure in calling attention to the large 
increase in the number of Transcripts made; many of these, there is 
reason to believe, owe their existence to the help and stimulus given 
by the former report. 

It is to be noted that a large number of the Transcripts have been 
made for the use of the various Parishes, and will therefore be 
accessible to the public. 

It appears to the Committee that the evidence supplied by this 
supplemental List shows that the supposed impossibility of ever 
transcribing the whole of the Parish Registers of the Kingdom is 
imaginary, and that by enlisting and encouraging local effort, the very 
desirable object may be obtained at no great distance of time. 

The list of Transcribers’ names shows how much may be done by 
individual workers, and much more might easily be done by some 
i organised effort by Diocesan authorities. 

The Committee hail with satisfaction the successful formation of a 
Society for printing Parish Registers, under the patronage of the Arch- 
bishops and many of the Bishops. The Hon. Sec. is E. A. Fry, Esq., of 
172, Edmund Street, Birmingham, who will be happy to give any 
information on the subject. The Society has already issued five 
Registers in return for the annual guinea subscription, and in the event 
of an increase in the number of subscribers will be able to print more 
Registers annually. In cases where some local help can be guaranteed, 
special arrangements can be made for printing Registers. 

Mr. W. P. W. Phillimore (124, Chancery Lane) is also printing a 
series of complete Marriage Registers of Counties. ‘Those of Gloucester- 
shire are now being printed, and others for Hants, Kent, Northants, 
Notts, and Somerset are in active preparation. It is intended to 
arrange for other Counties. 

Mr. Wm. Brigg, B.A. (Harpenden, Herts.), is printing in the 
“ Herts. Genealogist” a useful series of Bishops’ Transcripts for the 
periods for which the Parish Registers are lost. 

It is gratifying to find that, at the instance of the Diocesan Confer- 
ences of St. Alban’s and Worcester, Committees have been formed to 
obtain from all Incumbents in the Dioceses returns of the Registers 
existing iu their Parishes, their exact dates and condition. 

An effort will then be made to get the books put into proper repair. 

A 2 


2 


The Rey. O. W. Tancock, of Little Waltham Rectory, Chelmsford, 
is Hon. Sec. of the St. Alban’s Committee, and E. A. Fry, Esq., of the 
Worcester, and either of these gentlemen will be glad to answer 
enquiries as to their method of work, so that a uniform plan may be 
adopted in other Dioceses. 

The St. Alban’s “ Diocesan Quarterly ” for the past quarter (No. 15, 
price 3d. post free, W. Root, Halstead, Essex) contains an account of 
what has been done in the St. Alban’s Diocese.* 

It is to be hoped that an effort will afterwards be made to get all 
the Registers transcribed and indexed, and copies kept in the Parish 
for reference. A small fee should be agreed upon as to be charzed for 
consultation of the Transcript for purposes of Genealogical research, 
the charge for certified extracts from the original Registers remaining, 
of course, as at present. 

The Committee are again indebted to Geo. W. Marshall, LL.D. 
(Rouge Croix) for his revision of the list of Printed Registers. The 
somewhat arduous labour of compiling and editing the Calendar has 
been undertaken by Ralph Nevill, F.S.A. the Hon. Sec. of the Com- 
mittee, and &, A. Fry, the Hon. Sec. cf the Parish Register Society. 

All who may publish to transcribe Registers in future are invited 
to send particulars to either of the above named gentlemen, who have 
undertaken to compile the next List. 

RALPH NEVILL, Hon. Sec. 
13, Addison Cresent, 
Kensington. 


The particulars obtained of the Registers of Herts. will be printed in 
Middlesex and Herts. Notes and Queries, commencing January, 1897 
(Messrs. Hardy § Page, 44, Chancery Lane, W.C.). 


* The Worcester Diocesan Mag. for December, 1896 (Midland Education 
Co., Corporation Street, Birmingham, price 24d. post free), contains a 
similar Report for the Worcester Diocese. 


The First Report of the Committee, issued in 1892, contains advice as 
to the transcription and publication of Registers, and a specimen 
alphabet of the characters chiefly used. 

There are also Calendars of all Registers known to have been 
transcribed or printed up to the date of issue. The Calendars 
here given are supplementary to those in the First Report. 


oo 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


List No. 1.—Parish Registers printed as separate works. 
» No. 2.—Parish Registers printed in other works. 
» No. 3.—Parish Registers transcribed in MS. 
», No. 4.—Registers of other Churches in all classes, 
» No. 5.—Sundry Records of allied character. 


No. 1.—List of Parish Registers that have been 
printed as separate works. 


BERKS. READING, St. Giles, 1518-1546, Walter L. Nash. 


CHESHIRE. Brpsrone, 1581-1700, W. F. Irvine. 
Srockrort, St. Mary, 1584-1620, E. W. Bulkely 1889 


i CORNWALL. Reprurts, 1560-1716, J. C. Peter, Redruth 1894, 4to 


5 CUMBERLAND. Datsron, vol. i. 1570-1678, vol. ii. 1679-1812, Rev. 
J. Wilson, M.A., 1893 and 1896. Indexed, with 
; corrections from Bishops’ transcripts. 

é Kirk Oswatp, 1577-1609, Canon Thornley 1895, 8vo 
% Penrira, 1556-1601, G. Watson 1893, 8vo 


DORSETS. Bere Hacxert, 1549-1745, E. A. Fry, Par. Reg. Soc. 
1896, 8vo 
CAUNDLE Bisnop, 1570-1814, Rev. Canon C. H. Mayo 
(Dorset Records) 1895, 8vo 
Hounest, 1589-1812, E. A. Fry (Dorset Records) 

1894, 8vo 

Lona Burron, 1580-1812, E. A. Fry (Dorset Records) 
1894, 8vo 

DURHAM. Duruam CATHEDRAL, 1609-1896, Harl. Soc. (in press). 


ESSEX. Fyr1ecp, 1538-1700, F. A. Crisp, F.S.A., pr. 1896, fol. 
GLO'STERS. Marsnrrerp, 1558-1793, F. A. Crisp, F.S.A., pr. 


KENT. BEAKESBOURNE, 1558-1812, Rey. C. H. Wilkie, pr. 
dmy. 8vo 
Orpineton, 1560-1754, H. C. Kirby Lond. 1895, 8vo 


LANCS. HawksnHEAD, 1568-1794, H. Swainson Cooper, F.S.A. 
dmy. 8vo 


LINCOLNS. Horstine, 1653-1837, H. Peet Liverpool, 1895, 8vo 


: 
| 


4 


LONDON.  CuarrerHousr CHAPEL, Bap. 1696-1836, Mar. 1671-1754 
and 1837-1890, Bur. 1695-1854, Francis Collins, M.D., 
Harl. Soc., vol. xviii. 

Curistcuurcn, Newgate Street, 1538-1754, W. A. Little- 
dale, M.A., Harl. Soc., vol. xxi. 

Sr. Groree’s Cuaret, Mayfair, Bap. 1740- and Mar. 
1735-1754 (wrongly entered in last list), George J. 
Armytage, F.S.A., Harl. Soc., vol. xv. 

Sr. Grorer’s, Hanover Square, Mar. 1810-1836 (in press), 
Harl. Soc. 

Sr. James’, Clerkenwell, Bur. 1551-1754, Robt. Hovenden, 
F.S.A., Harl. Scc., vol. xvii., xix., and xx. 


NORFOLK. Norwicu, St. George’s Tombland, 1538-1707. 
NORTHANTS. Maxey, 1538-1712, Rev. W. D. Sweeting, M.A. 
(Mitchell & Hughes) 1892, 8vo 
NOTTS. WEL Low, 1703-1812, Geo. W. Marshall, LL.D. 
Exeter, 1896, 8vo 
Worksop, 1558-1771, Geo. W. Marshall, LL.D. 
Guildford, 1894, 8vo 
RUTLAND. Norra Lurrennam, 1572-1812, Rev. P. J. Dennis, Par. 
Reg. Soe. 1896, 8vo 
SOMERSET. Bruton, 1826-1890, Rev. T. A. Strong. 
SUFFOLK. Barpwe ti, 1538-1650, Rev. F. E. Warren, F.S.A. 
(Mitchell & Hughes). 
BRAMFIELD, 1539-1889, Rev. T. S. Hill (Mitchell & 


Hughes). 
SURREY. Bansteap, 1547-1789, F. H. Lambert, F.S.A., Par. Reg. 
Soe. 1896, 8vo 


WARWICKS. Fittone ey, 1538-1653, Rev. A. B. Stevenson. 


WESTMORELAND. Assy, 1657-1798, T. R. Rivington 1894, 8vo 
RAVENSTONEDALE, 1570-1812, Rev. R. W. Metcalfe 


1893, 8vo 

WORCESTERS. Kyigurwick with DoppENHAM, 15388-1812, Rev. 
J. Bowstead-Wilson, F.S.A. 1891, small fol. 

Worcester, St. Alban’s, 1630-1812, Rev. J. Bowstead- 

Wilson, Par. Reg. Soc. 1896, 8vo 


YORKS. Battery, 1559-1800, M. Sheard. 
Botton Apsey, 1689-1812, Rev. A. P. Howes, M.A. 
Skipton, 1895, 8vo 
BurnsaL, vol. i. 1559-1700, vol. ii. 1701-1739 and 
1783-1812, Rev. W. J. Stavert, M.A. 
Skipton, 1893, 8vo 
ConrsTONE, 1567-1812, Rev. W. J. Stavert, M.A. 
Skipton, 1894, 8vo 
Frevkirgk, 1701-1812, A.N.J. Royds, Rochdale, 1894, 8vo 
Monk Fryston, 1538-1678, Par. Reg. Soc. 1896, 8vo 


~ 


2] 


YORKS. Rytsrone, vol. i. 1559-1723, vol. ii. 1724-1812, Rev, 
(continued) C. H. Lowe, M.A. Leeds, 1895-6, 8vo 
SappLewortn, 1613-1751, J. Radcliffe 1887, 8vo0 
SkIPTON-IN-CRAVEN, vol. i. 1592-1680, vol. ii. 1680-1745, 
vol. iii. 1745-1812, Rev. W. J. Stavert, M.A. 
Skipton, 1894-6, 8vo 
York, Holy Trinity, 1586-1760, Rev. E. Bulmer (in ° 
progress). 
York, St. Martin-cum-Gregory, 1538-1745, Rev. Ek. 
Bulmer (in progress). 


No. 2.—List of Parish Registers printed in books 
and periodicals. 


BERKS. Diwcort, Bap. 1562-1647, Berks Notes and Queries, Oct. 
1890, to April 1891. 


CAMBRIDGES. Campriper, St. Michael, 1538-1837, J. Venn, 
Camb. Antiqu. Soc., vol. xxv. (complete part) 


1891, 8vo 
CHESHIRE. Srocxrorrt, Cheshire Notes and Queries. 
DURHAM. §Esu, 1566- Pro. Soc. Antiqu., Newcastle-on-Tyne. 


*GLO’STERS. Forruameton, Mar. 1678-1812, Rev. E. R. Dowdeswell, 
Glouc. Mar. Reg. 

Frocester, Mar. 1559-1799, Rev. W. Symonds, Glouc. 
Notes and Queries. 

Kine Sranvey, Mar. 1573-1812, Rev. T. W. Cattell and 
Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, G. M. R. 

Maisemorn, Bap. 1600-1663, Mar. 1557-1590, Bur. 
1538-1599, G. N. & Q. 

Nympsrretp, Mar. 1679-1812, Rev. J. Silvester, G. M. R. 

Owxren, Mar. 1677-1895, W. P. W. Phillimore and Rev. 
W. B. Benison, G. M. R. 

Peswortu, Mar. 1595-1700, Rev. T. P. Wadley, 
G. N. & Q. 

Quepeegty, Mar. 1559-1836, Rev. E. L. Bryan and Rev. 
W. Symonds, G. M. R. 

Renpcompr, Mar. 1566-1812, Rev. G. E. A. Kempson, 
G. M. R. 

Stimpriper, Mar. 1635-1812, Rev. W. Symonds, G. M. R. 

Swinpon, Mar. 1638-1838, Sidney Madge, F.R.H.S., 
G. M. RB. 

Wuappon, Mar. 1674-1711, G. N. & Q. 


* The Glo’ster Marriage Registers are being printed in Glo’ster Notes and Queries, 
and will be issued in volumes, the first of which is now complete. See Preface. 


6 


HANTS. ASHE, Rev. J. Thoyts, Par. Hist. of Ashe, 
Clowes & Sons 1888 
HERTS. Cuippinc Barnet, Bishops’ Transcripts for sundry years, 


missing from Par. Reg., 1569-1682, Wm. Brigg, 
B.A., Herts. Genealogist, vol. ii. 
Nortuaw, Bps. Trans., sundry years, 1564-1748, Herts. 
Geneal., vols. i. and ii. 
Sr. ALBan’s ABBEY, 1558-1689, Wm. Brigg, B.A., Herts. 
Geneal. Supplement. 
Sr. Arpan’s, St. Michael’s in, Bps. Trans., sundry years 
1572-1630, Herts. Geneal., vol. i. 
Sr. ALBAn’s, St. Stephen’s in, Bps. Trans., sundry years, 
1561-1600, Herts. Geneal., vol. i. 
Wicernton, Bps. Trans., sundry years, 1609-1670, Herts. 
Geneal., vol. i. 
LINCOLNS. Kineersy, 1562-1760 (in progress in Northern Genea- 
logist), Bishop’s Transcript. 
MIDDLESEX. Cutswicx, Mar. 1678-1800 (in “ Chiswick”), W. P. W. 
Phillimore. 
NORTHANTS. Cxay Coron, 154i- (in progress, Northern 
Genealogist). 
Maxey, 1538-1712, Rev. W. D. Sweeting, M.A., 
Mis. Gen. et Herald. (See also List 1.) 
NORTHUMBERLAND. Etspon, 1672- , Proc. Soc. Antiqu., New- 
castle-on-Tyne (in progress). 
Warxkwortn, Bap. and Mar. 1688, Bur. 1674, J. C. 
Hodgson, Proc. Soc. Antiqu., Newcastle-on-Tyne (in 
progress). 
NOTTS. Newark, Mar. 1650-1662, Northern Genealogist. 
OLLERTON, 1592-1812, G. W. Marshall, LL.D., The 
Genealogist. 
WELLow, 1703-1812, G. W. Marshall, LL.D., The 
Genealogist. 
SOMERSET. Srreer, 1599- (in progress in The Genealogist). 


SUFFOLK. Freston, 1538-1894, Rev. C. R. Durrant, “Life in a 
Sutiolk village,” 1887-91. 
WARWICKS. Sovurnam, 1539—Bap. 1633, Mar. 1657, Bur. 1647, 
W. Gardner, Hist. Notices of Southam 1895, 4to 
WORCESTERS. Inkperrow, 1675-1778, Rev. I. N. Leeke, Par. Mag. 
NorTHFIELD, 1560-1576, W. F. Carter, Par. Mag. 
Rovs Lencuy, 1538- , Rev. Dr. Chafy Chafy, Par. Mag. 
YORKS. Lerps, St. Peter’s, 1572-1612, Rev. E. Cookson, Thoresby 


Society. 
SrartrorTH, 1661-1691 (in progress in Northern 
Genealogist). 


WuitTkirK, 1603-1700, J. W. Morkill, M.A., Records 
of Whitkirk Leeds, 1892 


a eee ee 


ba | 


No. 3.—List of MS. Transcripts. 


Those marked “ Par.” are in the custody of the Clergy for Parish use. 


BEDFORDS. Biceteswanpr, 1562-1598, John Powell. 


BERKS. Bisuam, 1560-1845, Edgar Powell. 
Diwcot, Bap. 1562-1678, Mar. 1571-1674, Bur. 1568- 
1681, G. Tudor Sherwood. 
Urron-NEAR-Biewsury, &c., 1588-1741, J. F. Fry. 
CAMBRIDGES. Basranam, 1561- ., Rev. T. D. Gray (in 
progress). 
CamBripGE, All Saints’, 1538-1702, C. L. Acland (in 
progress). 
CHESHIRE. Barrow-py-Tarvin, Bap. 1572-1623, Mar. 1590-1619, 
Bur. 1572-1622, mixed 1629-1679, T. Cann 
Hughes, M.A. 
CuEsTeR CATHEDRAL, 1687-1871, T. Hughes, F.S.A. 
CueEstER, St. John’s, Bap. and Mar. 1599-1626, Bur. 
1661-1723, T. Cann Hughes, M.A. 
sf St. Oswald’s, 1580-1650, T. Cann Hughes, M.A. 
M4 St. Peter’s, T. Cann Hughes, M.A. 
NorRTHENDEN, T. Cann Hughes, M.A. 
OvercHurcH, #.e., Upton, 1660-1812, W. F. Irvine. 
SweEttrenHaM, 1570-1820, Cyril Lockett. 
Wareurton, 1611-1752, Rev. G. Egerton-Warburton, 
M.A. 


CUMBERLAND. Brampron, 1663-1702, Rev. H. Whitehead. 
, Newton Reieny, 1571-1812, Rev. H. Whitehead. 
PennritH, 1602-1812, Geo. Watson. 
DENBIGHS. Gresrorp, T. Canu Hughes, M.A. 


DERBYS. _ Repron, 1580-1670, Rey. F. C. Hipkins. 

SomersHALL-HERBERT, 1537-1812, Rev. H. C. Fitz- 
herbert (Indexed, &c.). 

STAVELEY, Bap. 1558-1665, Mar. 1587-1666, Bur. 1538- 
1693, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 


DEVON. *Atwinerton, Mar., Bap. and Bur. 1550-1812, Rev. J. 
Ingle Dredge. 
Anstey, East, Mar. 1674, Bap. and Bur. 1596-1812, 
Rey. J. Ingle Dredge. 
a Wrst, 1653-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 


* Transcripts of those Parishes thus marked were entered in the first Report 
as among the Chester MSS. These were copied from the Transcripts here eutered. 


o 


Ao 


8 


DEVON. ATHERINGTON, Mar. 1548, Bap. 1538, Bur. 1570-1812, 
(continued) Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
Berry Narsor, Bap. 1550, Mar. and Bur. 1540-1812, 
Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
BrpEForD, 1561-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

*BraprorD, Mar. 1558-1754, Bap. 1558 and Bur. 

1559-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

Brawnton, 1538-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

CHITTLEHAMPTON, a fragment, Mar. and Bur. 1576-78, 
Bap. 1575-79, Mar., Bap. Bur. 1637-1812, Rey. J. 
Ingle Dredge. 

Cryst Sr. Grorcer, 1567-1748, Rev. J. L. Gibbs. 

Do.tron, Mar. 1610, Bap. and Bur. 1608-1812, Rev. J. 
Ingle Dredge. 

Fremineton, Mar. 1602-1837, Bap. and Bur. 1602- 
1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

*HARTLAND, 1558—Mar. 1837, Bap. 1812, Bur. 1866, 

Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

Heranton Puncwarpon, Mar. 1559, Bap. 1656, Bur. 
1559-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

Hiew Bicxineton, Mar. 1754-1837, Bap. and Bur. 
1707-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

*HOLLACOMBE, 1638-1739, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

Huisu, Mar. 1600-1789, Bap. and Bur. 1595-1812, Rev. 
J. Ingle Dredge. 

Huntsnaw, Mar. 1755, Bap. and Bur. 1746-1812, Rev. 
J. Ingle Dredge. 

*LirrLeHAM (Brwwerorp), 1538-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
LirrLe Torrineton, 1672-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. : 
Marwoop, 1602—Mar. 1812, Bap. 1784, Bur. 1800, Rev. | 

J. Ingle Dredge. 
Meeru, Mar. 1656, Bap. and Bur. 1653-1812, Rev. J. 
Ingle Dredge. 
Merton, Mar. 1688, Bap. and Bur. 1687-1812, Rev. J. 
Ingle Dredge. 
*NewrTon Sr. Perrock, Mar. and Bap. 157 Bur, 1723- 
1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
*PARKHAM, 1537-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
PLyMTREE, 1538-1800, Mrs. J. Rose Troup. 
Purtrorp, West, Mar. 1670—Bap. and Bur. 1668-1812, 
Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
R0BOROUGH, 1549-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
ROCKBEARE, 1645—Bap. and Bur. 1676, Mar. 1672, Mrs. 
J. Rose Troup. 
RosEasu, 1591-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 
Sr. Giies-1n-THE-Woop, Mar. and Bap. 1555-1748, Bur. 
1556-1746, Rey. J. Ingle Dredge. 

*SHEBBEAR, 1576-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

Sroxe Rivers, 1553—Bap. and Mar. 1744, Bur. 1707, 
tev. J. Ingle Dredge. 


DEVON. 
(continued) 


DORSET, 


DURHAM. 


ESSEX. 


9 


Wear Girrorp, 1583-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

West Down, -1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

WestiricH, Mar. 1561-1757, Bap. 1560-1776, Bur. 
1559-1776, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

Winxtereu, Mar. 1569-1791, Bap. 1585, Bur. 1569-1812, 
Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

WoorrarpisworTny, 1723-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 

YARNSCOMBE, 1653-1812, Rev. J. Ingle Dredge. 


CuipEocK, 1654-1812, Rev. C. V. Goddard. 

Lypiincu, 1559-1812, Rev. C. H. Mayo. 

STURMINSTER MARSHALL, 1562-1694, Rev. J. Cross. 

Tarrant Hinton, 1545-1812, Rev. A. S. Newman. 

THORNFORD, 1677-1812, EH. A. Fry. 

WuirecuurcH Canonrcorum, Bap. 1558-1680, index 
form, Rev. R. G. Bartleit. 


Denton, 1714-1812 (continuation), Rev. J. Edleston. 

Dimspaez, Bap. 1556-1806, Mar. 1564-1754, Bur. 1562- 
1812, Robt. Blair, F.S.A. 

Epscnester, Bap. and Bur. 1619-1731, Mar. 1621-1731, 
Robt. Blair, F.S.A. 


Wuirsurn, Mar. 1579- , Robt. Blair, F.S.A. (in 
progress). 
Witton, Bap.1571- _, Robt. Blair, F.S.A. (in progress). 


Witton-Le-WEAR, 1558-1745, Robt. Blair, F.S.A. 


AytTHORPE Ropine, 1559-1636, Par. 
Boreuam, 1559-1800, R. H. Browne, Par. 
BRAINTREE, 1660-1812, R. H. Browne, Vicar. 
BROOMFIELD, 1546-1812, Rev. O. W. Tancock. 
CHELMSFORD, 1538-1812, R. H. Browne. 
CHIGNALL, S. James’, 1724-1812 (earlier lost), Rev. O. W. 
Tancock. 
CHIGWELL, 1653-1812, R. H. Browne. 
Eart’s Coine, 1560-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. 
East Ham, Bap. and Bur. 1700-1803, Mar. 1695-1804, 
A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 
LAMBORNE, 1582-1812, R. H. Browne (see also 1st Report). 
LEIcus, Great, 1556- 1812, The Rector. 
Litre, 1679- 1812, Rey. O. W. Tancock. 
Matpon, All Saints’, 1558-1812 , R. H. Browne, Plume 
Library, Maldon. 
» st. Mary, 1558-1812, R. H. Browne, Plume 
Library. 
A St. Peter’s, 1556-1812, R. H. Browne, Plume 
Library. 
Masnpvry, 1539-1812, Rev. 0. W. Tancock. 
Navesrock, 1538-1812, Par. 
Pirsuey, 1656-1812, Rev. O. W. Tancock. 
RarnHam, 1570-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. 
RoxweE tt, 1558-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. 


ESSEX. 


(continued) 


GLO’STERS. 


10 


SPRINGFIELD, 1570-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom, M.A. 
SrarLterorD Apsots, 1653-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. 
THAXTED, 1538-1812, R. H. Browne (in progress). 
TuurRock, West, 1668-1712 (made 1805), Par. 
ToTTERNHOE, 1558-1670, Rev. S. A. Woolward (Indexed). 
Watruam Parva, 1538-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. and 
Guildhall Library. 
West Ham, Mar. 1653-1801, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 
Wurre Corne, 1538-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. and 
Guildhall Library. 
Wrprorp, 1619-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. 
WoopuAm WALTER, 1558-1800, R. H. Browne, Par. 
Wrirt te, 1634-1812, R. H. Browne, Par. 


Aston-suB-EpGe, 1538-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
n Mar. only 1539-1719, 8. G. Hamilton. 

To be printed in Gloucester Marriage Registers. 

Bisuors CLEEVE, Mar. 1563-1812, Sidney Madge, F.R.H.5S. 

Cam, Mar. 1569-1812, W. P. W. Phillimore, for 
G. M. R. (in progress). 

Camppen, Mar. 1616-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Cuartton Kines, Mar. 1538-1812, Sidney Madge, 
F.R.H.S. 

CuEepwortu, Mar. 1653-1817, Rev. 8. Hope, for G. M. R. 

CHELTENHAM, 1558-1812, Sidney Madge, for G. M. R. 

CLirrorD CHAMBERS, 1537-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom, 
M.A. 

Coarey, Mar. 1625-1812, W. P. W. Phillimore and Rev 
W. Symons, for G. M. R. 

DorsinGTon, 1593-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Durstey, Mar. 1639-1676, W. P. W. Phillimore, for 
G.M. R 


Eprineaton, 1567-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Hawkesgury, Mar. 1603-1728, W. P. W. Phillimore, 
and Rev. E. R. Mosley, for G. M. R. 

Kemerton, Mar. 1575-1716, and in progress, Rev. J. J. 
Mercier, for G. M. R. 

LemInGTON, 1685-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Leonarp Srantey, Mar. 1570-1806, T. W. Cattell and 
R. Denison Jones, for G. M. R. 

Lipmineton, 1691-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Marston Sicca, Mar. only 1680-1812, Rev. J. Harvey 
Bloom. 

Matson, Bap. 1553-1812, Mar. 1563-1879, Bur. 1555- 
1812, Rev. W. Bazeley. 

Mick eTon, 1594-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

uy Mar. 1594-1812, S.G. Hamilton, for G. M. R. 

Morerton-1n-THE-Marsu, Mar. , Rev. J. Harvey 
Bloom. 

NeTHER Swett, Mar. 1686-1812, Rev. D. Royce, for 
G. M. R. 


HANTS. 


HERTS. 


11 


GLO’STERS. Painswick, Mar. 1562-1627, 1653-1705, 1710-1812, 
(continued) 


Cecil T. Davis, for G. M. R. 

Prswortn, 1597-1784, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

PrestToNn-on-Stovr, 1540-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Quinton, 1537-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

SarnspurRy, Bap. 1563-1569, Mar. 1585-1590, Bur. 1786— 
1812, Rey. J. Harvey Bloom. 

SrincucomsBe, Mar. 1583-1812, W. P. W. Phillimore 
and Rev. P. Lynch Blosse, for G. M. R. 

Srone, Mar. 1594-1812, Rev. C. Cripps, for G. M. R. 

Sronenovusz, Mar. 1558-1812, R. Denison Jones, for 
G. M.R. 

Swinpvon, Bap. 1606—Mar. 1638-1838, Bur. 1638-1700, 
Sidney Madge, F.R.HLS. 

Toprenuam, 1721-1812, Rey. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Uxey, Mar. only 1668-1812, W. P. W. Phillimore, for 
Gat. BR: 

Uprer SLAUGHTER, 1538-1812, J. E. K. Cutts. 

We rorp-on-Avon, Bap. and Bur. 1561-1768, Rev. J. 
Harvey Bloom. 

Weston-on-Avon, 1685-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Weston-sus-Epcr, 1626-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Wittersey, 1721-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 


Faccomsr, Mar. 1546-1754, W. P. W. Phillimore and 
Rev. F. H. Harding, for Hants. Mar Reg. 

HEADLEY, 1537-1895, Rev. W. H. Laverty. 

HursrBocrne Tarrant, Mar. 1546-1754, W. P. W. 
Phillimore, for H. M. R. 

Knient’s Ennam, Mar. 1683-1812, Rev. R. H. Clutter- 
buck, for H. M. R. 

Liyxennort, Mar. 1585-1738, W. P. W. Phillimore, for 
H. M. R. 

Monxston, Mar. 1716-1812, Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, for 
H. M. R. 


Prenton Mewsery, Mar. 1642-1812, Rev. R. H. 
Clutterbuck, for H. M. R. 

Vernuam, Mar. 1607-1754, W. P. W. Phillimore, for 
H.- MEE. 


TIEREFORDS. Sroxe Briss, 1571-1717, Mrs. Baldwyn Childe. 


Tuornsury, 1538-1735, Mrs. Baldwyn Childe. 


ALDENHAM, 1559-1659, Rev. K. F. Gibbs (in progress). 

FriamstTeap, 1548—Bap. 1726, Mar. 1736, Bur. 1724, 
A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Herrrorp, St. Andrew, 1566-1653, Par. 

HERTINGFORDBURY, 1679-1813, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

PeLyuaM Brent, 1539-1773, Par. 

Repgowrn, 1617-1701, J. E. K. Cutts. 


KENT. 


LANCS. 


LINCOLNS. 


LONDON. 


12 


MILTON-NEXT-SITTINGBOURNE, Bap. 1538-1697, Mar. 
1622-1698, Bur. 1588-1657, A. S. Scott-Gatty, 
F.S.A. 

Newenpon, 1559-1850, Rev. E. Termyn (Indexed). 

Reston, Bap. 1541-1684, Mar. 1540-1683, Bur. 1542— 
1685, A. 8. Seott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

WIcKHAMBREUX, Bap. 1563-1612, Mar. 1558-1652, Bur. 
1558-1661, A.S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Wineuan, Bap. 1568—Bur. 1569-1778, Mar. 1569-1770, 
A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 


Burn ey, 1562-1722, W. Ecroyd. 
HawksHEAD, 1568-1704, H. Swainson Cowper, F.S.A. 


DoppineTon, 1690-1812, Rev. R. E. G. Cole. 

Epworth, Bap. 1538-1602, Mar. 1564—Bur. 1538-1593, 
A. 5. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

SCRIVELSBY, 1565-1812, Rev. Canon Lodge, Par. 


Brermonpsey, St. Mary Magdalen, 1609-1643, A. S. 
Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Hory Trinity, Minories, Bap. 1563-1813, Mar. 1579- 
1664, Bur. 1566-1813, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 


MIDDLESEX. Wutiespen, 1568-1865, Fred. A. Wood (Indexed). 


NORFOLK. 


BawseEy, 1537-1773, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Bio’ Norton, 1562—Bap. 1713, Mar. 1712, Bur. 1714, 
Rev. Aug. G. Legge, Par. 

Guest, Bap. 1557-1707, Mar. 1560-1706, Bur. 1558- 
1723, Rev. Aug. G. Legge, Par. 

NewrTon-By-CasTLe AcRE, 1558-1812, Rev. J. Harvey 
Bloom. 

West Acre, 1665-1748, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 


NORTHANTS. Atpwinxktz, All Saints’, 1653-1726, A. §. Scott- 


NOTTS. 


Gatty, F.S.A. 

ALDWINKLE, St. Peter’s, Bap. 1563-1689 and 1701-1711, 
Mar. 1654-1711, Bur. 1653-1679, A. S. Seott- 
Gatty, F.S.A. 

Litrorp, Bap. 1559-1779, Mar. 1564-1770, Bur. 1568- 
1778, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Movtton, 1565-1895, Sidney Madge, F.R.HLS. 

WADENHOE, 1559-1684, A. 8S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

WarxkTON, 1559-1742, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 


Cornam, 1587-1811, J. E. K. Cutts. 

FLawsorouenH, Mar. 1681-1812, W. P. W. Phillimore, 
for Notts. Mar. Reg. 

Oxston, Mar 1590-1812, W. P. W. Phillimore, for 
Ne ALR. 

Scarrineton, Mar. 1571-1812, Rev. J. Standish, for 
N. M. R. 

Screveton, Mar. 1640-1780, Rev. J. Standish, for 


i. 


13 


NOTTS. Tuoroton, Mar. 1583-1606, W. P. W. Phillimore, for 
(continued) N. M. R. 


OXFORDS. Weernron, 1558-1813, Rev. A. D. Mozley. 


RUTLAND. Caxpecort, 1605-1783, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 
Lippineron, Bap. 1562—Mar. 1604, Bur. 1561-1725, 
A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 


SHROPSHIRE. Atve ey, 1561-1721, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 
BATTLEFIELD, 1662-1812, Shrewsbury Free Library. 
Cieosury Mortmer, 1574-1847, Mrs. Baldwyn Childe. 
Hanwoop, 1559-1763, Shrewsbury Free Library 
(Original since burnt). 

Kintet, 1657—Bap. 1868, Mar. 1841, Bur. 1860, Mrs. 
Baldwyn Childe. 

Neen Savace, 1575-1709, Mrs. Baldwyn Childe. 

Suawsury, 1561-1595 and 1618-1646 (1595-1618 lost), 
Rev. F. Vernon, Par. 

SuHrRAwapine, 1645-1812, Shrewsbury Free Library. 

Westgeury, 1637-1743, — Morris, Shrewsbury Free 
Library. 

SOMERSET. Baru, Abbey Church, 1569—Bap. and Mar. 1754, Bur. 

1800, Harl. Soc. 

Curistow, 1553-1812, HE. F. Wade. 

Compton BisHop, 1641-1807, E. F. Wade. 

Cuck.ineTon, 1558-1837, Rev. E. H. Bates (Indexed). 

GOATHURST, St. David Kemeys Tynte. 

St. Micuart Cuurcn, 1697-1812, Rev. R. G. Bartlett. 

Stroke Trister, 1751-1837, Rev. E. H. Bates, Par. 
(Indexed). 

THURLOXTON, 1558-1812, Rev. R. G. Bartlett (Indexed). 
Another copy by St. David Kemeys Tynte. 

TICKENHAM, 1538-1812, Rev. J. Byrchmore. 


STAFFORDS. Cueckiey, 1625-1825, W. Morton Philips, J.P., D.L. 
Leieu, nr. Stoke-on-Trent, 1541-1700, Archdeacon Lane. 


SUFFOLK. Borsratt, 1540- , Rey. E. Cookson, M.A., and Par. 
(Indexed). 
Comps, Bap. 1558—Mar. 1568, Bur. 1569-1732, A. S. 
Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 
Easton, Mixed 1561-1742, Bap. 1742—Mar. and Bur. 
1745-1777, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 
Ickwortu, 1566-1890, Rev. S. H. A. Hervey. 
Ipswicu, St. Clement’s, Bap. and Bur. 1563-1666, Mar. 
1564-1666, Rev. E. Cookson. 
a5 St. Lawrence, 1539—Bap. 1812, Mar. 1754, 
Bur. 1811, Rev. E. Cookson. 
» St. Mary-atte-Key, 1559- , Rev. E. Cook- 
son, and Par. (Indexed). 
5 St. Mary Eims, Bap. and Bur. 1557-1812, Mar. 
1554-1753, Rey. E. Cookson, M.A. 


SUFFOLK. 


(continued) 


SURREY. 


SUSSEX. 


14 


Teswicn, St. Matthew’s, 1559—Bap. 1695, Mar. 1702, 
Bur. 1701, Rev. E. Cookson (Indexed). Index 
with parish. 

‘5 St. Nicholas, Bap. and Mar. 1539-1728, Bur. 

1552-1731, Rev. E. Cookson, Par. (Indexed). 

- St. Peter’s, Bap. 1657-1790, Mar. 1662-1786, 

Bur. 1658-1789 (older books lost), Rev. E. 
Cookson, M.A., Par. (Indexed). 

St. Stephen’s, Bap. 1585-1690, Mar. 1586-1678, 
Bur. 1586-1679, Rev. E. Cookson, M.A., 
Par. (Indexed). 

Krrxtey, 1700-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

PAKEFIELD, 1682-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

RatTLesDEN, 1558-1662, Rev. J. R. Olorenshaw. 

SouTHwo tp, 1602-1802, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Wootrrr, 1558-1895, P. H. Page. 


BartrerseEA, St. Mary’s, 1559-1700. 

CRANLEIGH, 1566-1790, W. Welch. 

Has.emere, Bap. 1594—Mar. and Bur. 1573-1812, J. W. 
Penfold. 

WeysrivGr, 1625—Bap. 1797, Mar. 1812, Bur. 1820 
(names only from 1797), Miss E. Lluyd. 

W oopMANSTERNE, 1568--1710 (to 1750 in progress), F. H. 
Lambert, F.S.A. 


GRINSTEAD, East, 1558-1760, R. Payne Crawford. 
Lavant, East, 1653—Bap. and Bur. 1810, Mar. 1753, 
W. H. Rylands, F.S.A. 

< Mip., 1567-1748, W. H. Rylands, F.S.A. 
Sovruwick, 1670-1837, H. Hall. 
Sropuam, 1543-1694, Mrs. Vernon L. Guise (to be 

continued). 

TREYFORD, 1728-1811, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 
Westbourne, 1550-1769, E. A. Fry. 


WARWICKS. Atveston, 1539-1769, R. Savage. 


ATHERSTONE-ON-STOUR, 1654-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
BarcHestTon, 1589-181z, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Barrorp, Mar. 1639-1721, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
BrsHopton, 1591-1752, R. Savage. 
BurMineton, 1582-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
CuHaRLECOT, 1543-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Cuersterton, Mar. 1535-1731, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Ciirron-upoN-Dunsmorg, 1594-1787, A. 5S. Scott-Gatty, 
F S.A. 
Corton Hacker, 1550-1627, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Eatineton, 1671-1783, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Hatrorp, 1541-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Hownnineron, 1571-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Kineton, 1538-1639, R. Savage. 


L5 


WARWICKS. Licurnorne, Mar. 1539-1734, Rev. J. Harvey 


(continued) 


Bloom (in progress). 
Loxtey, 1540-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Lupprneron, 1617-1638, R. Savage. 
Prtterton Hersey, 1539-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
i Priors, 1604-1629, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Preston-on-Stour, 1540-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Sovrnam, Bap. 1633—Mar. 1657, Bur. 1647-1812, W. 
Gardner. (See also List 2.) 
Srratrorp-on-Avon, 1553-1723, R. Savage. 
We ttespournt, 1560-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Wuatcort, Bap. and Mar. 1572-1617, and Bap. and Bur. 
1746-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Wuircuurcn, 1561-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 


WESTMORELAND. Bampron, 1637-1812 (in progress), Miss Noble. 


WILTS. 


AMESBURY, Rev. C. Ruddle. 

Baversrocke, Bap. 1557—Mar. and Bur. 1561-1713, 
Chas. Penruddocke. 

Currrerne, All Saints’, Bishops’ Transcripts to 1672 by 
Rev. R. G. Bartlett, Par. (originals lost). 

Compron CHAMBERLAYNE, 1747-1812, Chas. Penruddocke. 

Dinton, 1558-1812, Chas. Penruddocke. 

Great Bepwyn, Bap. 1553—Mar. 1539, Bur. 1538- 
1717, Rev. J. Ward, Par. 

Mapprineton, 1611-1812, Canon Bennett and Rey. G. 
Bartlett, Par. 

Mitston -cum- Briemerston, 1540-1700, Rev. R. G. 
Bartlett, Index copy and Par. 

Orcueston St. Mary, Bishops’ Transcripts to 1700, Rev. 
k. G. Bartlett (original registers lost). 

Presnute, 1607-1707, E. Li. Gwillim. 

Rotiestong. 1652-1812, Rev. R. G. Bartlett, Index copy. 

SurewTon, 1548-1812, Canon Bennett. 

1548-1700, Rev. R. G. Bartlett, Index form, 


” 
Par. 


WORCESTERS. Atperminster, 1628-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 


Creeve-Prior,1557-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Cent, 1562-1812, J. Amphlett (wrongly inserted in first 
Report under Staffordshire). 

Evesuam, All Saints’, Bap. and Mar. 1539-1784, Bur. 
1538-1546 (in progress), Rev. J. Harvey 
Bloom. 

St. Laurence, Bur. 1556 (in progress), Rev. 
J. Harvey Bloom. 

Hartiesury, 1540-1579, Rev. R. A. Wilson (to be 

continued). 

Honeysourne, 1673-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Kyre Wyarp, 1694-1812, Mrs. Baldwyn Childe. 


” 


16 


WORCESTERS Lirrie CumBerton, Mar. 1540-1627, Rev. J. Harvey 
(continued) Bloom. , 
Littteron, Norta and Mripptie, 1661-1787, Rev. J. 
Harvey Bloom. 
* Sourn, 1537-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
OrrENHAM, 1538-1706, R. Savage. 
SHIPSTON-ON-STOUR, 1572-1812, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 
Srrerron-on-THE-Foss, 1538—Bap. and Bur. 1733, Mar. 
1754, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom 
Trepineton, Mar. 1560-1615, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom 
(in progress). 
Worcester, St. Helen's, 1538-1812, Rev. J. Bowstead 
Wilson, F.S.A. ; 
e! St. John-in-Bedwardine, Mrs. W. R. Carr. 


YORKS. Atmonppury, 1557-1652, R. C. Oldfield. 

BrRaAvDFIELD, 1559-1670, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

BuRGHWALLIS, 1596-1693 (with gaps), A. S. Scott-Gatty, 
F.S.A. 

Ganton, Bap. 1556—Bur. 1552-1794, Mar. 1653-1737, 
A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Harruit1, 1586-1697, A. §. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Hatrietp, Bap. 1566—Bur. 1565-1679, Mar. 1566- 
1681, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Hemsworthu, 1553-1688, Rev. J. Harvey Bloom. 

Hooton Roserts, Bap. and Mar. 1702-1803, Bur. 1703- 
1813, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Hovinenam, 1642-1742, A. 8. Scots-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Kirk Eta, 1588-1812, A. B. Wilson Barkworth. 

LINTON-IN-CRAVEN, 1562-1896, Rev. F. A. C. Share, M.A., 
Par. 

Otp Matton, Bap. and Mar. 1606—Bur. 1609-1765, 
A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

SADDLEWORTH, St. Chad’s, 1571-1800, John Radcliffe. 
(From 1613-1751 are printed.) 

Strnessy, 1687-1737, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

TANKERSLEY, Bap. 1593-1742, Mar. 1599-1754, Bur. 
1598-1755, A. S. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

TuHorne, 1465-1698, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 

Wuirkirk, 1603-1700, J. W. Morkill, M.A., Par. (See 
also List 2.) 

Wintrincnam, 1558-1700, A. 8. Scott-Gatty, F.S.A. 


17 


No. 4.—Registers of Other Churches. 


Printed Registers. 


LONDON. Frencn Cuurcu, Threadneedle Street, 1600-1639, 
Huguenot Soc. Lymington, 1896, 4to 
WESTMORELAND. RavenstoneDAte, Presbyterian, 1775-1809, 
Congregational, 1811-1837, 
Soc. of Friends, 1655 18384, 


i) Rev. R. W. Metcalf 1894, fol. 
. MS. Transcript. 
KENT. Rocuester, (Presbyterian) 1706-1806 (some entries 


from 1700), Humphrey Wood, F.S.A. (original 
deposited with Registrar-General). 


No. 5.—Sundry Records (printed). 


CAMBRIDGE. Ey, Mar. Licences, allegations for, 1582-1691, 
A. Gibbons, F.8.A. 
HANTS. Mar. Licences by Bp. of Winchester, allegations for, 
W. T. C. Moens, F.8.A. Harl. Soc., vols. xxxv. and 
. XXXVI. 
i HERTS. Huntixepon Archdeaconry, Mar. Licences, Abstracts, 
; W. Brigg, B.A., Herts. Genealogist. 
Sr. Arsan’s Archdeaconry, Mar. Licences, Abstracts, 
W. Brigg, B.A., Herts. Genealogist. 


KENT. Canrersury, Mar. Licences, 1568-1618 (First Series), 
J. M. Cowper. 1892 pr. 
sd Mar. Licences, 1619-1660 (Second Series), 

J. M. Cowper. 


Mar. Licences, Vicar-Gen. of Archp., 1660- 
1679. Extracts by Col. Chester. Harl. 
Soc., vol. xxiii. and complement to do., 
vols. xxxili. and xxxiv. 

Mar. Licences, Vicar-Gen., &c., 1679-1687 
and 1687-1694, Harl. Soc., vols. xxx. and 
RECRT, 

Mar. Licences, Faculty Office of Archbp., 
1543-1869, Harl. Soc., vol. xxiv. 


LINCOLNS. Lrxcorn, Mar. Licences, allegations for, 1569-1670, 
A. Gibbons, F.S.A. (in progress). 


”? 


? 


LONDON. 


YORKS. 


SOMERSET. Commonweatta Mar., 1653-1655, Somerset and Dorsi 


GENTLEMAN’S MAGAZINE. Index to Mar., 1731-1868, H. Fam 


Lonpow, Mar. Licences, 1520-1610 and 1611-182 
Soc., vols, xxv. and xxvi. — a 

Westminster, Mar. Licences by Dean and Cha { 
1699, Col. Chester, Harl. Soc., vol. xxiii. 


Yorx, Mar. Licences by Dean and Chapter, A. Gi 
F.S.A. (in progress). 


Notes and Queries II. 73, 104. 


Swan Sonnenschein (in press). dmy. 8vo 


any short Notes on Antiquarian, Genealogical, or Historical 
matters connected with the County, as well as on any interest- 


ing points of Wiltshire Natural History or Geology. 


QUERIES AND REQUESTS. 
CHURCHYARD INSCRIPTIONS. 


The Rey. E. H. Gopparp would be glad to hear from anyone who 
is willing to take the trouble of copying the whole of the in- 
scriptions on the tombstones in any churchyard, with a view to 
helping in the gradual collection of the tombstone inscriptions 
of the county. Up to the present, about thirty-five churches 
and churehyards have been completed or promised. 


WILTSHIRE PHOTOGRAPHS. 


The attention of Photographers, amateur and professional, is called 
to the Report on Photographic Surveys, drawn up by the 
Congress of Archeological Societies and issued with No. 84 
of the Magazine. The Committee regard as very desirable 
the acquisition of good photographs of objects of archeological 
and architectural interest in the county, in which special at- 
tention is given to the accurate presentment of detail rather 
than to the general effect of the picture. The Secretaries would 
be glad to hear from anyone interested in photography who 
would be willing to help on the work by undertaking to photo- 
graphs the objects of interest in their own immediate neighbour- 
hoods. The photographs should, as a rule. be not /ess than 
half-plate size, unmounted, and must be printed in permanent 
process. 

<< 


7 ANNUAL MEETING. 


‘Phe Annual Meeting of the Society will be held at Braprorp- 

: on-Avon, July 27th—29th. 

~-July 27th.—General Meeting of the Society. Parish Church ; 

Saxon Church; Barton Barn; The Hall (Kingston House). 

| July 28th.—Excursion to Westwood Manor and Church; Farleigh 
: Hungerford Castle, &c.; Hinton Charterhouse ; and Norton 

2 St. Philip. 

- July 29th.—Broughton Gifford Church ; Monkton House ; Bean- 

acre; Melksham Church; Keevil Church, Manor, and Old 

Timber Mansion ; Seend Church ; Steeple Ashton Church. 


 *,* For particulars apply to Rev. W. N. C, WageELER, Bradford-on-Avon. 
‘ 3 LE 
THE BIRDS OF WILTSHIRE. One Volume, 8vo, 613 pp., Extra Cloth. 
_ By the Rev. A. ©. Smith, M.A. Price reduced to 10s. 6d. 


i} 


Pembroke. 


Beckford. Recollections of, 1893. 


Ditto Memoirs of, 1859. 
Beckford Family. Reminiscenses, 1887. 
Lawrence, Sir T. Cabinet of Gems. 
Sporting Incidents in the Life of 

__ another Tom Smith, M.F.H., 1867. 

Marlborough College Natural History 
Society. Report. 1881. 

Lord Clarendon. History of the 

Rebellion, Reign of Charles IT., 
Clarendon Gallery Characters,Claren- 
don and Whitelocke compared, the 
Clarendon Family vindicated, &c. 

Broad Chalke Registers. Moore, 1881. 

Akerman’s Archzological Index. 

Hobbes (T). Leviathan. Old Edition. 

Oliver (Dr. G). Collections illustrating 

_a@ History of Catholic Religion in- 

Cornwall, Wilts, &c. 

Bishop Burnet. History of the Reforma- 
tion. 

Woollen Trade of Wilts, Gloucester, 
and Somerset, 1803. 

Price. Series of Observations on the 
Cathedral Church of Salisbury. 

Addison (Joseph). Works. 


_ Life of John Tobin, by Miss Benger. 


Gillman’s Devizes Register. 1859—69. 
R. Jefferies. Any of his Works. 


N.B.—Any Books, Pamphlets, &c., 


perc ‘Political Letters and Speeches of Lord 


ries 
ion 
Moore. Poetical Works. Memoi 
Mrs. Marshall. Under Salisbury Spire. — 
Maskell’s Monumenta Ritualia. Sarum 


Use. 
Hooker. THerbert. 


Walton’s Lives. é 

Slow’s Wilts Rhymes, 2nd Series. _ 

Register of S. Osmund. Rolls Series. 

Marian Dark. Sonnets and Poems. _ 
1818, + ie 

Village Poems by J.C. B. Melksham. 
1 


Bowles. Poetical Works and Life, by © 
Gilfillan. ? 
Collison’s Beauties of British Antiq- 
quity. ‘ 
Bolingbroke, Lord. Life of, by Mac- 
knight. ea 

Guest's Origines Celtic. 
Stokes’ Wiltshire Rant. ; 
History of the Ist Battalion Wilts 
Volunteers. 1861—1885. By Major 
R. D. Gibney. 1888. c a 
Morrison. Catalogue of Kngravings 
at Fonthill House. 1868. 4 
Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. 
Numismata Antiqua. 1746. 
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. 
Poems. 
Fawcett, Professor. 


written by Natives of Wiltshire, or 


, s d . 
I eg ee 
st ee 


Speeches. ae 


9 


ee ee CTS 


51,1 Nia Se, ARN R. F. Hourston, New Bond Street. 
VE 14) eet eS James Fawn & Sons, 18, Queen’s Road. 
Calne ............ A, Hrata & Son, Market Place. 
~~ Chippenham ...... BR. F. Houtston, High Street. 
Cirencester ...... A. T. Harmer, Market Place. 
DOVES ov cee sces Hurry & Pearson, St. John Street. 
Marlborough...... Miss E. Lucy, High Street. 
Melksham....:.... Jouurre & Co., Bank Street. 
Oajord e252 eK: Jas. Parker & Co., Broad Street. 
Salisbury ...... ... Brown & Co., Canal. 
Trowbridge ...... G. W. Rosx, 66, Fore Street. 
Warminster ...... B. W. Coates, Market Place. 


Residents in the County, on any subject, old Newspapers, Cuttings, Scraps, 
Election Placards, Squibs, Maps, Reports, &c., and any original Drawings 0 
Prints of objects in the County, will also be acceptable. 


AGENTS 


FOR THE SALF OF THE 


WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE, 


HURRY & PEARSON, MACHINE PRINTERS, DEVIZES. — 


| WILTSHIRE 
Arehwolagial ad Natural Bistory 
MAGAZINE, 


Published unver the Birectian 


| 
| 


OF THE 


|}|/ SOCIETY FORMED IN THAT COUNTY, 
9 A.D. 1853: 


9 naa” ee, peat 


EDITED BY 
REV. E. H. GODDARD, Clyffe Vicarage, Wootton Bassett. 


ow ate a 


be ohn 


plies ii a 
oad ema Ve oy 


ax 
A 


re 
[ee Oe wT 


DEVIZES: 
PRINTED AND SOLD FoR THE Society By C. H. WoopwarD, 
(fate Wurry & Pearson), St. Joun SrReer. 


wade = 
pa” the 


Oe  ? 


_ Price 6d., with Tepuaigunee 5s:-6d- Mende Gratis. 
ts Inquisition Post Mortem, Charles I., Part V., issued with this 


2 i F 
ee number. = 
= =. 


re SEL PR 


TAKE NOTICE, that a copious Tadee for the precedi 
volumes of the Magazine will be found at the end of Vo I 
Vili., xvi., and xxiv. : 


Members who have not paid their Subsoriptils to the Society He 
the current year, are requested to remit the same forthwith to 
the Financial Secretary, Mr. Davin Owen, 31, Long Street, 
Devizes, to whom also all communications as to the supply 
of Magazines should be addressed. 


The Numbers of this Magazine will be delivered gratis, as issued, 
to Members who are not in arrear of their Annual Subserip- 
tions, but in accordance with Byelaw No. 8 “The Financial 
Secretary shall give notice to Members in arrear, and the 
Society’s publications will not be forwarded to Members whose 
Subscriptions shall remain unpaid after such notice.” 


All other communications to be addressed to the Honorary Secre- 
taries: H. KE. Meptacorr, Esa., Sandfield, Potterne, Devizes ; 
and the Rev. KE. H. Gopparp, Clyffe Vicarage, Wootton Bassett. 


A resolution has been passed by the Committee of the Society, 
“that it is highly desirable that every encouragement should 
be given towards obtaining second copies of Wiltshire Parish 
Registers.” 


THE SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS. 


To BE OBTAINED OF Mr. D. Owen, 31, Lons STREET, DEviZEs. 
THE BRITISH AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OF THE NORTH 
- WILTSHIRE DOWNS, by the Rev. A. C. SMITH, M.A. One Volume, 
Atlas 4to, 248 pp., 17 large Maps, and 110 Woodcuts, Extra Cloth. Price £2 2s, — 
One copy offered to each ‘Member of the Society, at £1 11s. 6d. 


THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF WILTSHIRE. One Volume, 8vo, 
504 pp., with map, Extra Cloth. By the Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A. Price to the 
Public, 16s.; but one copy offered to every Member of the Society at half-price. 


CATALOGUE or tae STOURHEAD COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES 
tn THE SOCIETY’S MUSEUM, with 175 illustrations. Price 2s. 6d. 


CATALOGUE or tHe SOCIETY'S LIBRARY ar trae MUSEUM. 
Price 3s. 6d; to Members, 2s.6d. APPENDIX No. I. and IL, 3d. each. 


CATALOGUE or WILTSHIRE TRADE TOKENS tn tae SOCIETY’S 
COLLECTION. Price 6d. 
BACK NUMBERS or tue MAGAZINE. Price to the Public, 5s. 6d. aad 
3s. 6d. (except in the case of a few Numbers, the price of which is raised). 
Members are allowed a reduction of 25 per cent. from these prices. 


STONEHENGE AND ITS BARROWS, by W. Long. Nos. 46-7 of the 
Magazine in separate wrapper, 7s. 6d. This still remains the best and most — 
reliable account of Stonehenge and its Earthworks. 


GUIDE ro rue STONES or STONEHENGE, with Map, by W. Cunnington, 
F.G.S. Price 6d. = a 


WILTSHIRE—THE TOPOGRAPHICAL COLLECTIONS OF JOHN 
AUBREY, F.R.S., A.D., 1659-1670. Corrected and Enlarged by the Rev. Canon 
J. E. Jackson, M.A., F.S.A. In 4to, Cloth, pp. 491, with 46 plates. Price £2 10s. 

INDEX OF ARCHAOLOGICAL PAPERS. The alphabetical Index 
Papers published in 1891, 1892, 1893, and 1894, by the various Archeologi 
and Antiquarian Societies throughout England, compiled under the direthi a 
the Congress of Archeological Societies. Price 3d. aa : 


kt) hele ee ee ee 
i Ys . vs 


WILTSHIRE 


MAGAZINE. 


Contents. 


crpty for the Year July, 1896—July, 1897 .....sseeeeeeseseeneeeerees 
8 ON THE History oF Mere: by T. H. Baker ...........c0eeseeses 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 
‘The Chapel, Woodlands, Mere ; and The Hall, Wood- 
lands, Mere ....... Meee) 208 
Chimneypiece in Babin, jae Chapel, Woodlands ¥: ; and 
The Ship Inn, Mere ......sscsssseeseeeeeseeeeseeeeneeeenee ens 254 
Cross Loft in Town Hall, Mere; and Woodlands House 256 
The Market Place, Mere .. eg oe Me, Le Saeed 
DEVIZES :— 


Archeological ond Paotural Wrstery 


o. LXXXVIII. DECEMBER, 1897. Vor. XXIX. 


PAGE 


221 
224, 
338 
342 
353 
353 
354 


WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE. 


“MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS. —Ovid. 


DECEMBER: 1897. 


Aeyort of the Wiltshive Archwological and 
| Alatural History Society 
For the Wear July, 1896-——July, 1897. 
[Read at the General Meeting at Bradford-on-Avon, July 27th, 1897.] 


tt (Gn HE Committee has to report the following changes in the 
WIZ A) list of Members during the year which has elapsed since 
the inet Annual Meeting :— 

“1. The Society has lost sixteen annual Members and three 
exchange Members by resignation, one life, and thirteen annual 
Members by death. Twenty-four new Members have joined us, 
viz., one life, twenty-two annual, and one exchange. This leaves 
us at the 30th June last with twenty-one life Members, three 
hundred and thirty-three annual Members, and nineteen exchange 
Members—a total of three hundred and seventy-three, a decrease 
_ from the numbers last year. 

“2. Amongst those whose loss by death we have had to deplore 
_ are :—Mr. T. B. Anstie, an original Member of the Society, and of 
the Committee; the Marquess of Bath, a distinguished Member of 
_ many years’ standing, who more than once welcomed the Society 
to Longleat; the Rev. G. E. Cleather, also an original Member, 
and the donor of some cases of birds, alluded to below; the Rev. 
Tupper Carey, who frequently joined our annual gatherings; and 
Sir Thomas Fraser Grove, Bart. 

VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXIX. R 


222 Report of Society for Year July, 1896—July, 1897. 


“3. The accounts for the year 1896 will be printed with the next 
number of the Magazine, after they have been audited. They show 
an increase in the amount received from subscriptions during the 
year, and in entrance and contributions to the Museum ; a decrease 
in the amounts paid for printing and stationery, for the printing of 
the Magazines, for additions to the contents of the Museum, and 
for miscellaneous charges; and an increase of a few pounds in the 
funds of the Society. 

“4, The additions to the Library and Museum have again been 
considerable. They are described in the Magazine with the donors’ 
names. Within the past few days Mr. Grant Meek has presented 
to the Society the Ernle Warriner collection of British birds which 
was deposited in the Museum some years ago, and a good copy, in 
two volumes, of Bewick’s Birds. With the two cases of birds 
recently presented by Mr. Cleather, the Ernle Warriner collection 
is now complete. 

“5. Numbers 86 and 87 of the Magazine have been issued since 
the last Meeting. Also the Catalogue of the Stourhead Collection, 
and Appendix II. of the Library Catalogue. Information as to 
all publications of the Society is always given on the cover of the 
Magazine, which is made use of for various notices connected with 
the Society. It is hoped that the list of ‘‘ Wiltshire Books wanted ” 
does not escape the attention of readers. 

“6. The Society is entitled to appoint a trustee of the Wootton 
Bassett Town Trust. The Committee suggests the re-election of 
Mr. N. Story Maskelyne, Vice-President. Mr. Kinneir resigns 
the post of Local Secretary for the Swindon Division, and by the 
death of Mr. Shopland the Purton District is deprived of its Local 
Secretary. The Committee recommends the appointment of Mr. 
A. D. Passmore, of Swindon, as Local Secretary for Swindon. 
Tt recommends the appointment of the Rev. Cecil V. Goddard, of 
Shrewton, as Local Secretary for Shrewton and Salisbury Plain. 
It also recommends the appointment of Mr. Toone, of the Capital 
and Counties Bank, Devizes, as Hon. Auditor in place of Mr. 
Wilshin, resigned. 

“7. The appointment of at least one vigilant Local Secretary 


Report of Society for Year July, 1896—July, 1897. 2238 


in the Stonehenge district seems very desirable. The railway 
line proposed to be constructed by the Great Western Company 
from Pewsey to Salisbury will pass very near to many of the 
barrows, earthworks; and more important relics, of which solitude 
and remoteness from any lines of communication have for centuries 
past been the best protectors. In the near future, with a station 
close by Stonehenge, and forty thousand acres or more of land 
about to be acquired for military manceuvres, solitude and remote- 
ness are at an end, and “’Arry at Stonehenge,” as depicted by 
Punch (in August, 1886), is only too likely to become a very 
melancholy reality, even before our next meeting. The matter 
has attracted the attention of some of the leading journals, but no 
suggestion that can be made will prevent the realisation of the 
materialistic schemes alluded to. Education and improved tastes 
must be relied upon for the due preservation of the relics of 
Salisbury Plain, so valuable and so full of interest to archeologists. 

“The cutting and levelling in connection with no less than four 
new short lines of railway in the county at almost one time ought 
to give the geologist many opportunities for further research. 

“The Rev. HE. H. Goddard attended the Congress of Archeological 
Societies at Burlington House in July, 1896, as the representative 
of the Society. 

“The excavation of a disused Roman well by Mr. B. H. 
Cunnington and Mr. J. W. Brooke, near Silbury Hill, has 
recently been recorded in the Magazine. The various relics found 
are described in the article, and they have been placed in the 
Museum. 

“The Committee hopes that the Local Secretaries and all 
Members of the Society will do all in their power to keep up the 
numbers and maintain the reputation of the Society which for 
upwards of forty years has done much to throw light upon the 
antiquities of our county.” 


R 2 


224 


Hotes om the History of Atlere. 
By T. H. Baker. 


HE following collection of items relating to Mere, though 
far from being a history of the place, may yet—being 

here gathered together—assist some future historian in writing a 
more detailed account of noteworthy occurrences and persons con- 
nected with the parish. 
_ There is but little of original matter in this paper. It is simply 
8 collection of details extracted from parish books, documents, and 
other available sources. It is moreover by no means exhaustive, for 
space will not permit the mention of many minor occurrences, which, 
although of interest to the local topographer, are not of sufficient 
importance to attract the attention of the general public. The 
writer has, therefore, endeavoured to record such matters as he 
considers most worthy of being handed down to posterity. . Those 
conversant with Wiltshire lore will find that many extracts have 
been made from Sir R. CO. Hoare’s Modern Wiltshire, but a connected 
history of any place must necessarily contain much matter that has 
been transcribed from one author by another ; he trusts, therefore, 
that with all its defects the following feeble attempt to save from 
oblivion many almost forgotten events will be looked upon as an 
endeavour to fill a gap in local history; a course which, had our 
ancestors adopted it, we should not now be so much at a loss to 
acoount for facts which have only come down to us by tradition 
and which many receive with suspicion. 
, The parish of Mere! is situated in the extreme south-west corner 


1The parish of Mere must be understood to include the tithing of Zeals, 
which has now been formed into a separate parish for both ecclesiastical and 
civil purposes. It was severed for the latter by an order of the County Council 
in 1896, and it was formed into an ecclesiastical parish in 1846, when a new 
Church was built and endowed, the patronage being in the Vicar of Mere. It 
has received an additional endowment since. 


Notes on the History of Mere. 225 


of the county of Wilts, bordering on Somerset. and Dorset, 

whence possibly it takes its name—mere signifying a boundary. 
_A stone in the middle of a millpond attached to Bourton Foundry 
_marks the junction of the three counties. 

It is bounded on the west by Penselwood, in: Somerset, and 
Stourton, in Wilts; on the north by Stourton and Kilmington ; 
on the east by Maiden Bradley, Kingston Deverill, West Knoyle, 
East Knoyle, and Sedghill, in Wilts; and on the south bs Mat 
_combe, Gillingham, and Bourton, in Dorset. 


PoPpuLaTION. WT 

The population in 1801 was 2091; in 1811, 2211; in 1821, 

2422; in 1831, 2708; in 1841, 3139; in 1861, 2929; in 1871, 
_8161 ; in 1881, 2930; and in 1891, 2749. 


GEOLOGY. 


The eastern portion of the parish is on the chalk rane 
‘about two thousand acres being down land from 600ft. to '750ft. 
‘above the sea-level. The town, with a considerable quantity of 
land to the east and north, is on the lower or grey chalk. South 
of the town the soil is Kimmeridge clay with occasional veins of 
“white earth.”! The hamlets of Zeals and Wolverton (now part 
of Zeals) are chiefly sand land. The Market Place is 344ft. above 
sea-level. 


Mitts. 


At the foot of the chalk hills are numerous springs, which unite 
near the town and are of sufficient volume to drive a moderate-sized 
mill for grinding corn night and day without intermission; and 
further down the stream are two more mills in the parish, formerly 
used for the same purpose but latterly giving motive power to two 
factories, one for manufacturing flax, the other for spinning silk, 
though both these industries are now dormant. Fifty years ago 


1“ White earth” is a chalky loam with an admixture of flint, apparently 
denuded from the hills at a remote period. It was formerly generally used for 
floors of cottages, etc. ; the Church was floored with it. 


226 Notes on the History of Mere. 


this was the seat of the flax trade, nearly every house possessing’ a 
loom. Another mill, called “Tucking Mill,” has recently been 
destroyed, but it had ceased to be used as such for many years, 
having been converted into a cottage. It stood at the south-west 
corner of the sewage farm. 


THe Hunprep or Mere, 


as at present constituted, comprises the parishes of Mere (four 
tithings, viz., The Town, Woodlands, Chadenwyche, and Zeals), 
Kingston Deverill (a portion of), Maiden Bradley, Stourton, and 
West Knoyle. It was formerly more extensive. In ‘“ Exon 
Domesday ”’ East Knoyle and Monkton Deverell are included, thus 
making the complete number of ten tithings, but the two latter 
parishes have been transferred to other hundreds—the former to 
Downton, by the Bishop of Winchester, in 1330, the latter to South 
Damerham. Annexed is the description given in Exon Domesday : 


“In the hundred of Mzze are 86 hides and a half and 1 virgate. Of these 
the Barons have in demesne 34 hides and a half and half a virgate. Of them 
the King has in Knoyle 17 hides and a half in demesne. The Abbot of 
Glastonbury 5 hides. The Abbess of Wilton 4 hides and 1 virgate. Walter 
Gifard 4 hides. Gilbert Maminot 3 hides and a half and half a virgate. Godric 
the huntsman one virgate. And for 51 hides are paid to the King 15 pounds 
and 6 shillings. But of this money there were not paid 74 shillings from 
Knoyle Regis, the land of Earl William, at any of the usual terms, but for it 
the 4 collectors of the tax retained 12 pence. Saulf however retained the tax of 
1 hide and 1 virgate which he holds of Gozelin de Reveire, to wit seven shillings 
and six pence.” 


Now, although the hundred has lost two parishes, viz., Hast 
Knoyle, 5352 acres, and Monkton Deverill, 1735 acres, the present 
extent is much greater than that here recorded. If we take a hide 
as being say 120 acres and a virgate 30 acres, the area would be 
10,410 acres, whilst the parishes still forming the hundred have an 
acreage of nearly 19,000, after deducting a certain portion of 
Kingston Deverill (undefined, but still considered to be in the 
hundred of Amesbury). The present hundred consists of :—Mere, 
7313 acres; West Knoyle, 1906; Kingston Deverill (the whole 
parish), 2651; Maiden Bradley, 4550; and Stourton, 3386; total, 


By T. H. Baker. 227 


19,806 acres. Therefore a considerable area of down land, wastes, — 
and woods could not have been included, and, as we shall see 
hereafter in mentioning the account given in the “Exchequer 
Domesday,” only a very small portion of the parish of Mere is 
included in that return. 


British ANTIQUITIES. 


That a considerable population inhabited this district in remote 
ages is evident from the numerous works of British origin still 
existing. The Pen Pits extended far into the parish of Mere till 
within the memory of man, and for whatever purpose they were 
excavated their antiquity is undoubted. The downs still retain 
traces of ancient cultivation; banks, ditches, covered ways, and 
barrows abound, in addition to the camp on Whitesheet Hill, 
locally called “Old Castles,” which is partly within this parish and 
partly in Stourton. Sir R. C. Hoare has minutely described most 
of these works in “Ancient Wiltshire,” and he also is of opinion 
that the old trackway over the downs from Chadenwyche Hill to 
Long Lane—now almost disused, but till within the last few years 
the high road from Sarum to the West of England—is of British 
origin. A gold British coin of the type Fig. 6, Pl. I., in “ The 
Coins of the Ancient Britons,” by John Evans, F.S.A., was found 
about thirty years ago at Brewham Forest, near Stourton Tower, 
and came into the possession of the late Mrs. Mathews, of Mere. — 


Roman ANTIQUITIES. 


Although no indications of a Roman settlement have been dis- 
covered in the parish, yet the number of coins found testify to the 
occupation of the district in that period. In 1856 an urn was dug 
up by men engaged in draining a piece of land immediately ad- 
joining the town for the purpose of forming a new cemetery. It 
contained about two hundred and seventy denarii, ranging from 
A.D. 65 to A.D. 166 (see Wilts Arch. Mag., xxvii., 177). Most 
of the coins found in this locality are of the Constantine age, and a 
large percentage are of Carausius. 


228 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Saxon ReEmarns. 


Of Saxon remains there are none, if we except a portion of the 
east wall of the tower of the Parish Church, which was discovered 
in 1895 hidden behind the plaster, and described by Mr. Ponting 
in his paper on Mere Church, Wilts Arch. Mag., xxix., 22. 


Domespay Boox. 


The earliest authentic details of the parish are to be found in 
Domesday Book, and it is remarkable that in the case of so large a 
parish as Mere such a scanty report is given, unless we assume that 
it was in consequence of its being a royal manor, which manors, 
we are told, “ never paid geld, neither were assessed in hides.”” In 
the Exchequer Domesday there are three entries under the 
heading of Mere, and these represent very small occupations, so 
the probability is that the remainder of the manor was in demesne. 
There are two entries relating to Seles, and one to Chedelwich. 


“Godric the huntsman holds 1 virgate of land which pays geld in Mura. 
The land is a half carucate. He has there 1 coscet and a half acre of meadow. 
It is worth 5 shillings.” 


“QUluric holds Mera. Allic held it in the time of King Edward and it paid 
geld for 1 virgate and a half of land. The land is a half carucate which is there 
with 4 bordars and half an acre of meadow and 1 acre of pasture. It is worth 
7 shillings and sixpence.”’ 


“QUlnod holds 1 hide in Merz and it paid geld for so much in the time of 
King Edward. The land is 1 carucate, which is there with 6 cottars and 4 acres 
of meadow and 1 acre of pasture. It is worth 20 shillings.” 


So that probably these three holdings, about 200 acres, contained 
at that time all the assessable land in the parish, excluding Zeals 
and Chadenwyche, the remainder being in the hands of the King. 


Tur Manor. 


The manor has from time immemorial been attached to the 
crown, and although there are some documents relating to the 
Church of Mere of an earlier date in the muniment room of 
Salisbury Cathedral, which will be noticed hereafter, the earliest 
mention of the manor I have seen is in Kennet’s Parochial 
Antiquities :— 


By T. H. Baker. 229 


“Anno 1245. Richard Earl of Cornwall sent one thousand pounds by the 
knights hospitalers, for the relief and assistance of travellers and pilgrims to the 
Holy Land; and at Christmas entertained at Wallingford the King (Henry III.), 
the Queen, and nobility. And April 22nd, the same year, the King granted to 
him the manor of Meere with all appurtenances, that he may there found a 
religious house of what order he pleased.” 


_ This was eight years before permission was granted to the same 
earl to build the castle, but there is no existing evidence as to what 
religious house he built. Sir R. C. Hoare mentions the site of the 
monastery of Sealys Aylesbury, and as this was within the ancient 
parish of Mere, and was part of the possessions of the Earl of 
Cornwall, it may have been there, but there is no tradition as to 
its situation. 

In 1253 permission was granted to Richard Earl of Cornwall to 
build a castle on a hill situated in his manor of Mere, and afterwards 
to fortify it; a grant of materials for this work was made from the 
forest of Blackmore. Also allowing him to hold it during his own 
life and entailing it upon his heirs male by Sanchia, his wife, but 
in failure of such issue the castle was to devolve again to the crown. 
His eldest son, Edmund, succeeded him in the earldom of Cornwall. 
He died without issue and this lordship reverted to the crown and 
was granted by Edward I. as dower to his second wife, Margaret 
of France. Edward II. bestowed the Harldom of Cornwall on his 
favourite, Piers Gaveston, who was beheaded in 1312; the manor 
of Mere was then seized by the King and remained in his hands 
till 13832, when Edward III. created his brother, John of Eltham, 
Earl of Cornwall, and granted to him the manor of Mere with all 
the other possessions of the Earldom of Cornwall. He died in 
1337 ; his property reverted to the crown; the Earldom of 
Cornwall was created a Duchy, and it was granted to Edward, 
Prince of Wales, eldest son of Edward III. From this period the 
manor of Mere with all its appurtenances descended with, and as 
part and parcel of, the Duchy of Cornwall. 


Tue CasTLeE. 


As we have shown before, this was built about 1253, and must 
have been a grand and conspicuous object. It consisted of six 


230 Notes on the History of Mere. 


towers, which were covered with lead, a hall, an outer and an inner 
gate, a deep well, a chapel, with a priest who was paid 50s. a year 
to say mass for the soul of the Harl’s mother, Sanchia Berenger. 
Its officers were a constable, a warder for day, and a watchman for 
night. In the reign of Edward I. the Abbot of Scone, in Scotland, 
was imprisoned here. He was conducted as a rebel and traitor 
by the Sheriff of Wilts from Winchester, and delivered over to be 
kept in chains by Richard de Chiselden, Seneschal of Mere. 

Edward Plantagenet, who was Earl of Cornwall, 1296, lived at 
Berkhampstead, Herts, he married Margaret, the heiress of Gilbert, 
Earl of Gloucester, from whom he was separated, and she was 
decreed to lead an unmarried life. She probably lived here, as one 
of the towers was called the ‘“‘ Countess’s Tower.” Other towers 
were called the Northern and Hastern. The castle does not appear 
to have been very substantially built, as in 1300 there is an entry 
in the Rolls of the Duchy of Cornwall, given by Sir R. C. Hoare, 
Modern Wilts, Hund. of Mere :— 


“The Wages of Master William le Maras, plaisterer, making this year the 
wall of the Castle on the North side of the Great Eastern Tower, fallen to the 
ground, with 2 new buttresses joined to the said wall, and in making an arch 
beyond the inner gate, by task work, together with buying and carriage of 
freestones for all the aforesaid things, 40s. In digging, fetching and squaring 
for the same work, 8s. 8d. In collecting in the waters 20 cartloads of moist 
sand, and in carrying it to the castle, 4s. 2d. In collecting dry sand and 
mixing it with old mortar from the said wall which had fallen, 16d. In making 
and burning 40 quarters of lime for the same work, together with the carriage 
of bavins 13s. In boards together with nails bought 6d. In alder bought and 
making hurdles at Clayfot 17d. In the hire of the aforesaid Master William, 
new building by task work 1 garret in the high North Tower, with free-stone, 
and in carrying it to the same, and for fetching and working the stone for the 
same 25s. 94d. In the hire of 1 plumber with his man six weeks repairing the 
lead over 5 of the towers of the Castle, and of the defects there and repairing 
the sixth tower 30s.; viz. for himself and his man per week, 5s. In 5d lbs. of 
tin bought to solder with 6s. 103d.; for each pound 14d. In sawing boards to 
place under the lead, with nails bought to fasten the said boards 2s. 8d. In 
3lbs. of tallow bought for soldering with 3d. In the hire of 1 carpenter making 
2 new joists in the tower of the Countess 12d. In repairing and mending cross- 
bows and darts for the engines this year 3s. 1d. In hemp for cord, wax, pitch 
and tallow for the same, 93d. In the hire of 1 armourer mending and repairing 
the arms of the castle 3s. 6d. In a white skin bought for the same 4d. In 10 
bushels of bran bought for the same 15d. In rubbing and polishing the same 
by the year 20d. In cutting and carrying stakes into the castle for store, and 


ee 


. 


By T. H. Baker. 231 


in’ carrying great stones for the engines into the castle this year in autumn 68. 
In mending the roof of the hall with 12 coping or ridge stones bought for the 
same 21d. In mending the water bucket this year with seeking the same twice 
in the well 17d. In 1 new iron chain with iron bought for the same to lengthen 
the cord of the said well 2s. In 3llbs of wax bought for the chapel 14d. In 
livery to 1 constable by the year 60s. 8d. In the salary of the same by the 
year 13s. 4d. In livery to 1 warder and 1 watchman by the year £4 lls. In 
salary to the same by the year 13s. 4d. In livery tol chaplain celebrating mass 
for the soul of Queen Schenchie by the year 50s. Sum £19:9: O4, and the 
total of all expenses £68 9s. 03d.” 


In the year in which this account was taken some trouble was 
expected, the barons, headed by Bohun and Bigod, having refused 
to serve the King in any war beyond sea unless under the command 
of the King in person; consequently the arms and engines for 
casting missiles were put in repair. There is no record in existence 
stating how the castle was destroyed, probably it gradually fell to 
decay. Aubrey writes that “Mr. Francis Potter, Rector, sayes 
here was anciently a castle.” Aubrey wrote in 1660, so that it 
must have disappeared long before that time. 

Mere seems to have increased in importance about this time, for 
we find that in 1304-5 Johannes Tony and Henricus de Horsington 
were returned as Members of Parliament for Mere, but to the writ 
issued in 1307 no return was made. Whether any writs were 
subsequently issued is not recorded ; it is stated, however, that the 
town was eventually excused from sending Members to Parliament 
on the plea of poverty. 

Woodlands House and Zeals House have traces of fourteenth 
century work, and probably the manorial residences (demolished 
within the memory of the present generation, and of which no 
drawings or records exist by which to identify their age,) of Mere 
Park, Chadenwyche, and Burton were of about the same period. 

Mere was at this time a great staple for wool. 

The manor of Mere at the time we are treating of (the beginning 
of the fourteenth century and the latter part of the thirteenth) was 
kept in demesne by the Harl himself, who resided at Berkhampsted, 
in Herts, to which place a man and horse were sent with a buck 


- from Mere Park. It was obliged to be salted to prevent putrescence 
_ during the journey. 


232 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Mere Park was used chiefly as a place for the Earl’s brood mares, 
and for turning out his chargers. A.D. 1800 some of the land was 
let to tenants; as we find 1s. 6d. charged for land which did belong 
to Richard of Burton, and also 2s. 6d. for certain pieces of land 
granted to William Gomme. A fulling mill was let at 28s. 8d. 
per year, and two corn mills at £10 a year; £9 Os. 1d. was also 
paid by copyhold tenants of Mere, in lieu of manual laborious 
services which they were bound to perform for their lord, such as 
ploughing and digging his land, reaping his corn, and making his 
hay. Also 7s. was paid as the value of one ox, being the heriot of 
Roger Martin, deceased. The steward renders account of two oxen 
sold for 17s. 4d., and of £4 138s. for ninety-three crone wethers 
sold before shearing, being 1s. each; and of £3 14s. 3d. for eighty- 
one crone ewes at 1ld. each; also thirty cocks and ninety-seven 
hens, at 1d. each for the former, and 3d. for the latter. Four weys 
of cheese were sold for 28s. 8d., being 7s. a wey for some, but less 
for one parcel on account of the disease of the pockes which the 


ewe sheep had, so that part of the cheese was made from ewes’ milk. | 


Ten stone of butter were sold at 6d. per stone. The herbage sold 
this year in the meadows called East Mead, West Mead on the 
Hills, and in Conwich Mead for 26s. 7d. No grass was made into 
hay on account of the dry summer. Wheat sold for 6s. a quarter, 
and oats at 3s.a quarter. At the Court Leet Robert Jones, John 
the Tanner, and Peter Brekebut, were fined 5s. 8d. for making pits 
and heaps to the nuisance of the King’s highway. Stephen Solely 
was fined 6d. for breaking the assize of ale; Walter the Miller, 
2s. 3d. for breaking it five times; Robert the Clerk, 6d. for the 
same, and William Wyking, 3s. for seven infractions of it. 

The assize of ale, which was passed 51 Henry ITI., enacted that 
when a quarter of barley was sold for 2s. then four quarts of ale 
should be sold for a penny ; when for 2s. 6d. then seven quarts for 
twopence; when for 3s. then three quarts for one penny ; when for 
3s. 6d. then five quarts for twopence; when it was sold for 4s. then 
two quarts for one penny, and so forth. 

It may be interesting to give the names of a few of the in- 
habitants of Mere in the year 1300. John Cleimond (Clement), 


, 


By T. H. Baker. 233 


Walter of Horsington, John of Inmere, John of Hampstede, John 
of Burton, John Hodel, William Winking, Adam the’ Taylor, 
Robert of the Leigh, Walter Radel, William Gomme, Roger 
Martin, Walter Stedman, William Hitch, Adam Henton, Julia 
Galye, Thomas Harding, John Harding, Robert Artur, William 
Smith, Walter Carpenter, John Flingere, John and Matilda Caxton, 
Humphrey Hatch, William Bellamy, Richard Hatchwolf, William 
and John at the Green, Henry in the open Field, William of the 
Marsh, William and Robert at the Ash Tree, Walter and Alicia of 
the Spring, Reginald below the Water, Roger at the Brook, John 
the Hunter, John the Hayward, John the Shepherd, Osbert the 
Tanner, Roger the Wayte, William the Potter, William the Palmer, 
Edith the Mercier, Adam the Tukere, Eustace of Burton, Henry 
of Pimperleigh, Roger Aylward, William Ingram, John Goodricke, 
John Derry, Robert of the Conwich, Peter Brekebut, Stephen 
Solely. 

In 1899 the men and tenants of the castle and lordship of Marey 
in the county of Wilts, being of the ancient demesne of the crown, 
were confirmed in the privilege of exemption from toll throughout 
the whole kingdom of England “as they ought and had hitherto 
been accustomed to be.”” In 1408 King Henry IV. granted to his 
son, Henry, Prince of Wales, that he and his heirs should have 
two fairs yearly in the town of Mere in the county of Wilts, one 
on the eve and day of St. John ante portam Latinam (May 6th), 
to continue for six succéssive days—(this was the origin of the 
fair now held May 17th, which would correspond to May 6th, old 
style; Sir Richard Hoare has, in his Modern Wiltshire, fallen into 
the error of putting St. John’s Day as the day of St. John the 
Baptist, June 24th, and therefore concludes that this fair is 
abolished)—; and the other on the eve and day of St. Bartholomew, 
August 24th, to continue for six days successively following; and 
also one market weekly, to be holden on Wednesday; together 
with all franchises, commodities, and liberties, to the said. fairs 
and market belonging, for ever. This second fair has ceased to 
exist, and the present generation has no knowledge of. its ever 


having been kept up. There is no record stating when the market 


234 Notes on the History of Mere. 


was altered from Wednesday to Tuesday. It is certain that a 
market was held in Mere before this date, as it is reported in 1423 
that there is a certain cross in the town of Mere, which through 
default of the vicar, was become defective and ruinous. Now doubt- 
less this was a market cross. These market crosses were erected 
that a monk or friar, on market days, may preach to the people 
assembled there, when they were exhorted to be true and just in 
their dealings. Milner says:—The general intent of market 
crosses was to excite public homage to the religion of Christ crucified, 
and to inspire men with a sense of morality and piety, amidst the 
ordinary transactions of life.” They originated in towns where there 
were monastic establishments, and they gave the religious house a 
central point to collect the tolls paid by farmers and dealers in 
country produce, for the privilege of selling in the limits of the 
town. There is a fine specimen still existing in the “ Poultry 
Cross” at Salisbury. When this cross at Mere fell to decay 
probably the market house took its place, which was pulled down 
about thirty years since, and on its site the present clock-tower was 
erected. There were also boundary crosses, of which there were at 
least three in this parish, as we still have the names of White Cross, 
Long Cross, and High Cross, in remembrance of the monuments 
which stood at those places. We also had a cross in the churchyard, 
as our old churchwardens’ book states, 1556-7 :— 


“For two lode of stones with carriage, for the new makynge of the crosse jn 
the churcheyarde, 4s. Paid for the base stone and the stemme of the same 
crosse 2s. To the masons for their labor, for the new makynge of the same 
crosse in the ehurcheyarde 17s. 6d.” 


This cross was probably destroyed in 1645 by the Cromwellians, 
when the Vicar—Dr. Thomas Chafin—was so barbarously treated 
(as will be shown hereafter). 

In the churchwardens’ accounts for 1673-4 occurs the following 


entry :— 
“Ttm paid for four doz. of pointes given at the pambulacon 00 ,, 01 ,, 00.” 


which suggests the idea that the fragments of the shaft were then 
used as boundary stones, as in the spring of the present year (1897) 


» 
] 
. 


By T. H. Baker. 235 


the writer of this paper noticed a stone between Mere Down Farm 
and Chadenwyche of a different appearance to others used for the 
same purpose. On examination it proved to be a portion of the 
shaft of a cross of Ham Hill stone, of octagonal form; and a short 
distance from it, at the next bend, was a similar fragment. They 
were removed to the churchyard (other stones having been put in 
their respective places), where it is intended to restore them to their 
original position in their mutilated condition, with a new base 
from designs by Mr. Ponting. 

Tradition also says there existed a cross in the garden at 
Woodlands to the north of the chapel. An old man named 
Thomas Cowley, who died a few years since, 90 years of age, 
stated that when a boy he had assisted to carry away the stones of 
which this cross was built. 

The fair held on October 10th owes its institution to the dedication 
of the Church to Saint Michael. 


SuRNAMES. 


Nearly all the surnames given above as those of inhabitants of 
Mere in the fourteenth century have disappeared from the neigh- 
bourhood, but a few families still remain which are probably 
descended in a direct line from the individuals who lived here in 
those days, and in some instances they have retained the same 
Christian names, as, for instance, John Harding, John Shepherd, 
etc. Some have undergone a slight alteration, viz., John at the 
Green is now John Green, William of the Marsh is William Marsh, 
and so forth. The original appellation plainly shows the derivation 
of the name. Others, again, have become so altered as to be 
scarcely recognizable. Cleimond has become Clement, Solely has 


become Sly, ete. Some which have entirely disappeared have their 


names perpetuated in fields, lanes, ete. Henry of Horsington, who 
was M.P. for Mere in 1805, must have been a landowner here. 
There are fields still called Horsington’s situated on the borders of 
the parish, between Whitehill and the boundaries of Gillingham 
Forest. In 1568 these fields are described as “ of old time a wood 


__ now wasted and destroyed.” In 1300 they are mentioned as wood. 


236 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Henry of Pimperleigh derived his name from Pimperleigh; no 
existing dwelling is known by that name, but we have still Pim- 
perlease Road, which connects Wet Lane with Barrow Street, and 
in those days a dwelling-house was situated somewhere thereabouts. | 
Then John Clement has his name handed down to us in “ Clement’s 
Lane,” which extends from Edge Bridge to the corner of the road 
which leads to Woodlands. This name probably was originally 
John de Claymont (John of the Clay-mound, now Clay Knap), 
where his house stood, and which is contiguous to the present 
Clement’s Lane. Again, Robert of the Conwich took his name 
from the park of Conwich, which is still known as such, although 
all traces of dwellings are entirely swept away, but a farmhouse 
stood on this site in the recollection of persons still living. We 
also find in the neighbourhood a Robert Curthose, now corrupted 
to Curtis. Curthose means short hose, or short stockings. This 
family still exists. 

When the Earl of Cornwall ceased to keep the manor of Mi in 
his own occupation, it appears that it was let to a succession of 
stewards, who sub-let the several holdings to copyholders for terms 
of lives. 'The occupations were generally small, as was the custom 
in those days, consisting of a few acres of enclosed pasture near the 
homestead, where the dairy was kept, with a right to run a certain 
number of cows, etc., on the commons, which were looked after by 
a herdsman under the superintendence of a hayward. 

In Mere the reeve was the person who had the supervision of the 
commons, and we are able to give a list of those who held this office 
in the sixteenth century for more than thirty years, thus giving 
the names of many of the inhabitants two centuries later than those 
mentioned above :— 


1651 Robert Coward 1571 Thomas Awbrey, , 1579 Nicholas Clement 
1552 John Clement Gent. 1580 Thomas Holbrook 
1553 John Gildon 1572 John Forward 1581 Christopher Alford 
1554 Robert Bishop 1573 Christopher Alford | and Leonard Dodington 
1555 Robert Sheppard 1574 Robert Coward, for} 1582 Edward Foord 
1556 John King Charles Lord Stourton | 1583 William Chafin 
1566 Thomas Wats ‘| 1574 John Dodington | 1584 Edward Chafin 
1567 Randall Bannister | 1575 Thomas Alford 1585 Thomas Alford — 
1568 Alexander Bourne | 1576 John Gildon 1586 ThomasAbourough 


1569 John Forward, Jun.| 1577 Robert Bishop 1588 Thomas Watts 
1570 William Dixe, Sen.! 1578 Thomas King 


By T. H. Baker. 237 


Every copyholder also held a portion of arable land, and the 
downs were generally stocked in common, each owner having 
pasturage for a certain number of sheep, according to the size of 
his holding, These sheep were attended by a shepherd who took 
charge of the whole flock, but in Mere a portion of down seems to 
have been allotted to each farm, whose occupier stocked it as he 
thought fit. Those downs which were called tenantry downs were 
subject to certain regulations, which the farmers who held rights of 
pasturage on them were bound to adhere to. There was a tenantry 
down at Mere, in addition to those in severalty. 

To form a correct idea of the state of things at the period con- 
cerning which we are writing we must banish the Mere of to-day 
from our thoughts, and picture to ourselves Mere as it was then. 
A collection of small thatched houses framed with wood and filled 
in with lath and plaster, with a few superior buildings in the shape 
of shops, formed the town. One of these fifteenth century shops, 
situated on the north side of the Market Place, with its original, 
front and pretty much in the same state as it was then, has lately 
been taken down, and a brick building erected on its site; another, 
though scarcely so perfect as this, fell to decay a few years ago in 
Church Street, opposite the National School. In addition to these 
were the manorial residences, and the Deanery and Chantry houses, 
which were of a more substantial character. Then the streets were 
rough and not macadamised, contrasting strongly with the well-kept 
roads of the present day, and the approaches to Mere were bad in 


every direction. From Salisbury the town was entered by the 


Old Hollow, then through the water, up by Steep Street, and 


round by Back Lane and Bishops Corner. Mere then, as now, 


lay out of the direct line of communication from Salisbury to the 
West of England. The high road ran over the down from the 


top of Chadenwyche Hill to Whitesheet and Long Lane. This 


in pack-horse days was a very important thoroughfare. From 
Gillingham and Shaftesbury it must have been difficult to get to 
Mere at all during the winter months, except on foot or on horse- 
‘back. The Shaftesbury Road is now often called “‘ The Causeway,” 
plainly showing that an artificial raised roadway was there made 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVIII. s 


238 Notes on the History of Mere. 


at some period, to render Mere more accessible by this route than 
through the natural clayey soil of the district, which in a wet season 
could have been scarcely passable. ‘To the south of Mere was the 
Forest of Gillingham, to the West the Forest of Selwood. It 
seems that the inhabitants of Mere claimed certain rights of 
herbage and pannage, over portions of this Forest of Gillingham, 
which, when the disafforestation took place in 1651, were acknow- 
ledged by the authorities by allotting eighty acres of land to be 
managed by trustees, for the poor of Mere for ever, and now exist 
in the shape of the Mere Forest Charity. 

Nearly the whole of the land south of the town, except those 
portions immediately surrounding the several homesteads, was 
common, and remained as such till 1806-7, when an Act of 
Parliament was passed for its enclosure. 


BounDARY. 


The boundary line between Gillingham Forest and Mere was as 
follows (10 Elizabeth) (see Hutchins’ Dorset) :— 


“From the Bridge of Huntingford and so by the water to the ground of 
Thomas Chaffyn Esq., called Horsington, in the county of Wilts; which Horsing- 
tone of old time was a wood, which is now wasted and destroyed, thence East- 
wards leaving the said watercourse by the hedge of the said ground called 
Horsingtone, as the bounds there goeth between the counties of Wilts and 
Dorset, unto the north-end of the purpresture now of Christopher Dodington 
Esq., and from thence eastward, overthwart Whitehill which was of old time 
called the Leighe, as the said bounds goeth between the said counties of Wilts 
and Dorset, unto the north side of the old Hayes ; and from thence eastward in 
the north part of the ground of John, Lord Stourton, called Haselholte, all wayes 
as the bounds goeth between the said two counties unto an oak, standing by 
Leigh Marsh near unto Haselholt pound; and from the said oak eastward, all 
the ways as the bounds goeth between the said two counties unto the south end 
of the lane called Barrow Street Lane, and from thence as the said bounds goeth 
between the said two counties unto the corner of Mere Park, adjoining to the 
north side of Pymperleygh hedge; and from thence along by the hedge of the 
said park, unto the water called Gowge Pole, of old called Horeappledore, and 
from thence along by the Hedge of the said Park, called Double Hedge, in the 
north side of Cowridge.” 


At an inquisition made at Mere, 18th of November, 1300, con- 
cerning lands and tenements of which Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, 


By T. H. Baker. 239 


died seized ; John Cleimond, Walter of Horsington, John of 
Inmere, John of Hamstede, John of Burton, John Hodel, William 
Wiking, Thomas Wiking, William Yling, Adam the Taylor, 
Robert de la Legh, and Walter Rudel, say on their oath, that on 
the day the said Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, died, he held the 
Manor of Mere, and a certain castle, the proceeds from which are 
nothing, and a messuage beyond the castle, with grange, cowstall, 
and stable, worth 2s. per annum. Also 3244 acres of arable land 
worth £7 16s. 2d. per annum; 1463 acres of which are under the 
hills in Wodecomb, and Chatecomh, and beyond, and are worth 8d. 
per acre; 189 acres on the hills are worth 2d. per acre, 116 worth 
- 4d. Also 18 acres of meadow, worth £6 per annum; 33 acres in 
Westmead, Is. 8d. 65 acres in Kastmead and la Brech (Breches 
Farm), and Conewich, 1s., also 43 acres on Maplederehulle land 
. _and pasture, and the enclosure of Conewich and Horscroft, 47 acres 
of pasture worth 22s. 6d., or 3d. per acre. There is also a certain 
_ pasture in Swencombe, and beyond on the hills for oxen, cows, and 
young beasts, worth 33s. 4d. per annum. There is also a certain 
: pasture on the hills for the keep of 700 two-tooths, with separate 
_ pasture in Wodecomb, and Chatecomb, worth 100s. Also a certain 
park called Conewich Park, in which are no wild animals, the 
herbage and pannage! of which are worth £4 per annum, save the 
_ hay and the tithe of the herbage. Also another park called 
Deverlingewode,? in which are no wild animals, and the herbage 
and underwood in which are worth 10s. per annum. There are 
also two water mills worth £7 save the tithe. Also one fulling 
mill worth 26s. 8d. Also a toll called Stanegrist, worth 6d. per 
annum. Total value of the whole, £34 11s. 2d. A house is let 
in the Market Place at 2s. 8d. per annum. 
1399. A grant was made by Henry IV., as Duke of Cornwall, 


1 Pannage is the food of swine, such as acorns, beech-nuts, etc. 

? Deverill Longwood (the modern name) was grubbed about 1845 and attached 
to the Manor Farm—then newly formed—and is now cultivated as arable land, 
with the exception of a very small portion still retained as coppice. Before this 
it was a “tenantry ” wood, a certain area being allotted annually to each duchy 
_ tenant to be cut for use on the respective farms. 


s 2 


240 Notes on the History of Mere. 


to William Stourton, on a repairing lease for five years at 66s. per 
annum, of 


“Our Lodge and the herbage of our Park of Mere; our beasts of chase to be 
also reasonably kept up” (ultra rationabilem sustentationem ferarum nostrarum). 


The Stourtons had also long been watching for the chance of 
purchasing it. 

1602. The revenue of 

“The Dutchie of Cornwall from the Mannor of Meere in the Countie of 
Wilts, the yeerely rent is £89 ,, 15 ,, 10 ob.” (History of the Ancient and 


Modern Estate of the Dutchy of Cornwall collected out of the Records of the 
Tower by Sir John Dodridge, Knight. 1630.) 


Mere Park. 


Sir Richard Colt Hoare says ‘‘This appears to have been in 
former times a royal residence, and was stocked with deer.”” Why 
he considered it to have been a royal residence he does not say, 
neither does he give us any ancient authority which confirms his 
assertion, and as it is certain that a royal palace existed at 
Gillingham it seems altogether improbable that another should be 
coeval with it in the same locality. As to the fact of there being 
a palace at Gillingham, Hutchins, the Dorset historian, says :— 

“In the forest was anciently a palace, built by the Norman or Saxon kings 
for their residence when they came here to hunt. It stood half a mile east from 
the church in the way from Gillingham to Shaftesbury, near two small rivers on 
a level ground encompassed by a moat, now dry. The foundations are still to 
be seen, though not a stone of it is left. King Henry I. passed some time here. 
It was repaired or re-built by King John, who made visits here each year from 
1204 to 1214 inclusive, and in 1250—53 (the year that the castle was built at 
Mere for the King’s brother), 1261—1267 much work was done at the royal 
palace here. King Edward I. spent his Christmas and was here also in April, 


1278; after this it appears to have fallen to decay. The site is still called 
“ King’s Court.” 


With these facts before us we are not justified in supposing Mere 
Park ever to have been a royal residence, unless very strong evidence 
is brought forward to support such an assertion. 

Doubtless the park was kept stocked with deer for the King’s 
use, or for the Duke of Cornwall’s, for many generations, and 
probably the mansion there was occupied by the steward of the 


Se 


By T. H. Baker. 241 


manor for the time being, but not by the King himself, and as’ the 
castle at Mere was built about the time the royal palace at Gilling- 
ham was allowed to fall to decay it is clear that since that period 
no royal personage has dwelt at Mere Park. 

The tract of ground enclosed as a park consists of about 550 
acres, on the borders of the parish adjoming Hast Knoyle and 
Sedgehill, whilst outside the boundary a deer leap is claimed of the 
width of 184ft., and the wood upon it is the right of the possessor 
of the park. On the south side it is bounded by Gillingham, where 
is also a deer leap. The ancient residence, now destroyed, was 
situated at Higher Park, and was originally moated round. The 
modern house, at Lower Park, was built about 1726. 

A. curious letter dated 9th of January, 1552, was written by Sir 


John Zouche (who was then steward of the park and lordship of 


Mere, and who probably resided at the mansion in the park at the 
time), from which it appears that it was then intended to sell the 
entire manor of Mere, to which he was opposed :— 


“To the right honorable the King’s Maiesties Commyssioners appointed for 
the sale of his Highness landes.” 

“Jt may please your honoures to be advertysed, I have been enformed that 
there is sute made unto yowe for the purchasse of the Lordshipp of Myeare, in 
the countye of Wilteshyre, whereof I have the Stuardshipp and keping of the 
Parke, by grant of our late soverayne Lord, King Henry theight. And because 
I knowe the royaltie of the thing, and what number of gentlemen of great 
revenue dwell within it,'and hold their lands of it, what a lardge circuyte of 
grounde it occupyethe, above XXti myles compasse, that it is parcell of the 
auncyent revenue of the King Maiesties Crowne of his Duchie of Cornwall: And 
that it is a lordshipp royall, with a faier parke belonging unto yt, I thought it 
my parte to advertyse your honours thereof to thintente that if any further suite 
be made unto yowe in the case, yowe may, for the reasonable considerations before 


~ yemembred, staye from proceeding with the partie suying to entre into bargayne- 


In dede the late Lord Sturton, in the tyme of the late King Henry theight, 
was very desirous of the purchase of it ; which when his maiestie understode, 
he did furthwith stay it, although the money were before hand paid. Thus I 
thought my duety to opyn unto yowe; whiche done, I shall most humbly beseche 
God to prosper yowe all in all your doinge. And so rest at your commandment. 
Frome Wilton, the ixth of January, 1552. 
“Yo hono™ most humbly at commaundment, 
“JoHn ZoucHs.” 


1577, Mr ffrancis Zouch was keeper of the park at Mere. 


242 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Queen Elizabeth granted to Sir Walter Raleigh and Carew 
Raleigh for their lives the office of keeper of Her Highness’s park 
of Mere, and thereby made them keepers of the said park, with all 
fees, profits, etc., to the office belonging. 

1586, Sir Walter and Carew Raleigh grant the said office to 
Francis Souch or Zouch. 

1591, Francis Souch assigns unto William Ley and Thomas South 
the herbage and pannage of the said park, and the keeping of it. 

1592, William Ley, Thomas South, and Francis Souch grant to 
Jasper Moore the office of keeper of the said park, who also has the 
herbage and pannage granted to him. The office of keeper he 
assigns the same year to Henry Willoughby and John Budden. 
This arrangement did not last long, for in April, 1594, Henry 
Willoughby releases unto the said John Budden all his nghts to 
the herbage and pannage, and in the keeperage of the said park 
lodge, game of deer, etc., which in October is again assigned to 
Edward Wood and John Rowie for thirty-one years. 

1595, Meere Park was sold in fee subject to the above leases, to 
Matthew Ewens, one of the Barons of the Exchequer, and John 
Strowd, Esq., by Robert, Earl of Essex, Lylly Merrick, and Henry 
Lydney, Esquires; but the same year, in September, it was con- 
veyed by the above Matthew Ewens and John Strowd unto Sir 
Matthew Arundell, Knight, and his heirs for ever. 

1603, on the accession of James I. to the throne he disputed the 
grants made by Queen Elizabeth, and recovered the property which 
had been alienated from the crown, and by the result of this trial, 
which is recorded in Coke’s Reports, the Manor of Mere was re- 
annexed to the crown. Coke says :— 

“In this case divers things were observed. 

“J. hat the eldest son of every king after the creation was Duke of Cornwall. 

“2. That Richard of Bourdeaux who was son of the Black Prince was not 
Duke of Cornwall, although after the death of his father he was heir apparent 
to the crown, yet because he was not the first begotten son of any king of 
England (for his father died in the lifetime of King Edward III), the said 
Richard was not withiu the limitation of 2nd Edward III., and therefore he 
was created Duke of Cornwall by a special charter. Nor Elizabeth the eldest 


daughter of King Edward IV. was not Duchess of Cornwall, for she was the 
first begotten daughter of the king, and the limitation is to the first begotten 


By T. H. Baker. 243 


son. Neither was King Henry VIII., in the life of his father after the death 
of Prince Arthur, his brother, by force of the said creation Duke of Cornwall ; 
for although he was the sole son and heir apparent of Henry VII., yet forasmuch 
as he was not the first begotten son he was not within the said limitation ; for 
Prince Arthur was his first begotten son.” 


Therefore, if the present Prince of Wales should happen to die 
before his mother, our Queen Victoria, his eldest son would not be 
Duke of Cornwall, unless created by special charter. 

1624, December Ist, Mere Park was leased by the crown to Sir 
Matthew Arundell, and the same year the demesnes and barton 
were leased to Robert Goldesborough and Stephen Awbrey, Gent. 

1627, May 5th, Deverill Long Wood and Knoll Wood were 
granted on three lives to Jasper Bannister, and the same year the 
demesnes, park, and residue of the manor, with the rights and 
appurtenances, were granted to Robert Phelips, Esq. 

1650, Parliamentary survey of the hundred of Mere, dated 
October 4th, says of Mere Park :— 


“ Disparked about sixty years since; lying in the Parish of Mere, surrounded 
with pales, hedges, and ditches, and divided into thirty-four several closes, 
bounded east by Knoyle Common and the lands of Hugh Grove, west by 
Gillingham Marsh, etc., and containing by admeasurement 495 acres 3 roods, 
which, at 11s. per acre, is worth £272 per annum. Also a messuage within the 
park on the south-west, commonly called the Lodge, consisting of a kitchen, hall 
and two other rooms below, three chambers, etc., worth per annum 18s. 4d.; 
which disparked park we find in tenure of Mr. Jasper Bannister, by the indenture 
of the assignees of the now Thomas Lord Arundell of Warder, dated 4th August, 
4 Car. for twenty-six years paying £200 per annum, and £65 every ten years for 
a heriot; the said Lord Arundell claiming to hold from Prince Charles by 
indenture, dated 22, Jac., for thirty-one years.” 


In the year 1649, when the estates of the Delinquents (so called) 
were sold, the manor of Mere was disposed of to Mr. Aubrey, of 
Reading, and probably held by him till the Restoration in 1660, 
when it reverted to the duchy. The manor, with lands and tene- 
ments belonging thereto, realised the sum of £8393 0s. 7d. 

Mere Park is then described as :— 


“ All that parcel of disparked ground cum pert. called Meere Parke, within the 
parish of Meere, Com’ Wilts, now divided into several closes of arable, pasture, 


and meadow, with the messuage called the Lodge, with another in the said 


244 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Parke, with all other the app’ of the same, and all that the Manor of Meere, 
with its rights, rents, and app’ with several grants which were possession 
of K. Charles.” 


“29th December, 1657, Order to prepare a grant to Col. Robert Phelipps of 
all our houses and lands, called the demesnes of the Manor of Meere, in Wilts, 
and the barton there, and the sheep pasture there, called the Cuppey Warren of 
Swaynecumbe, within the said Manor, and the park called Mere Park and all the 
houses and lands within the same, for thirty-one years from Lady Day next, and 
the residue of the said manor, rents of assize, perquisites of courts from Lady 
Day next, for thirty years and a half, rendering the rents formerly reserved on 
lease to Mr. Thomas Carey. This is in consideration of his many faithful 
services done to our royal Father of blessed memory, and to ourselfs against our 
Rebels of England, especially in his late concealing us, and helping us to escape 
out of their hands; and also in consideration of the continual unwearied 
endeavours of him, and also of his wife Agneta Phelipps, to doe us service with 
the utmost hazard of their lives and fortunes. Given at our court at Bruges, 
29th December, 1657.” 

“To our trusty and well beloved, our Attorney or Solicitor General, or in 
their absence to any other of our Counsel learned at law.” 


1602, Mere Park was valued at £100. 

1640, Sir John Zouche was charged by rate £5 per annum for 
the herbage of Mere Park. 

A. Zouche, whose family had been lords of Castle Cary, was 
holder of Mere Park, under the crown, in the time of Queen 
Elizabeth. 

1670, the demesne, barton, park, etc., were granted to Henry 
North, Esquire. 

1694, the demesnes, Deverill Long-wood, Knoll-wood, etc., were 
granted to Sir Matthew Andrews, Knight, and continued in his 
hands, together with the manor, hundred, and bailiwick, except the 
woods and demesnes, till 28th March, 1735, when they were granted 
to Augustus Schutz, Hsq., till 1775, when the hundred, bailiwick, 
and demesnes were granted to George Schutz, Esq., and so continued 
till the present century. 

1716, John Nuttall and Robert Pitman took the whole of Mere 
Park from Henry Andrews, Esq., and it was sub-let-—Higher Park 
to Deborah Morrice, and Lower Park to Thomas Butler. 

1723, Thomas Butler gave up the occupation of Mere Park and 


By T. H. Baker. 245 


Thomas Toogood succeeded him at Lower Park. About this time 
the present farm-house was built. 

In 1736 Thomas Toogood renewed his lease of Mere Park. 

In 1794 we find that John Mereweather was tenant, and his sons 
occupied the whole park till 1828, when they were succeeded by 
Mr. William White, who left in 1844, and the farm was taken by 
John Mitchell, and in his family it has since remained. 


CHADENWYCHE. 


This is a tithing mentioned in Domesday Book, where it is 
styled Chedelwich :— 

“The same Bishop [Sarum] holds CoEpELWicH. Algar held it in the time 
of King Edward, and it paid geld for 5 hides. The land is 3 carucates. Of 
this land 4 hides are in demesne, and there are two carucates; and 3 villans, and 
6 bordars, and 2 coscets; with 1 carucate and a half. There are 103 acres of 
meadow. The pasture is 3 furlongs long and two furlongs broad. The wood is 


2 furlongs long and 1 furlong broad. It was worth 40 shillings; it is now 
worth £4.” 


From the above we gather that the greater portion of this manor 
was in the occupation of the owner at this date, but there were also 
resident three vi/lans, who are now represented by the class termed 
copyholders: two coscets, these were cottagers who held small 
portions of land—generally about five acres—attached to their 
tenement, for which they rendered certain services to the lord; in 
some places the coscet worked for the lord every Monday throughout 
the year: six bordars, these were of the same social grade as the 
eoscets ; they derived their name from the fact of their paying rent 
in kind, that is, in provisions to supply the lord’s table. In some 
districts there are lands called bord /ands at the present day. 

The owners of Chadenwyche have been as follows :— 

Algar, in the time of Edward the Confessor, 1042 to 1066. 

Bishop of Sarum, 1087. Hugo was under-tenant. 

William de St. Martin is said to have been enfeoffed in the 
manor of Chadenwich by Osmund, Bishop of Sarum. “ Will. 
de St. Martin in Chadwick, quem feoffavit Osmundus 
Episcopus.”” 


246 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Will’ de St. Martino.= 
ve Bie eel 
| 

Will’us le Seneschal= 
| 


| 
onal 


| 
Godfredus= 
| 


| 
Jordanus. 9 Hen. III. (1225). ! 


Earl of Cornwall, 1298. 

John Bettesthorne, who died 1398, is described on his brass in 
Mere Church as “Johannes Bettesthorne quondam Dominus de 
Chaddenwyche.”’ Elizabeth, his daughter and heir, married Sir 
John Berkeley, of Beverstone, Co. Gloucester, from whom it 
descended by heirship to Lord Compton, first Earl of Northampton, 
who owned it in 1571, when he sold it to Thomas Awbrey, of 
Reading, gent., who died 1634. 

In 1640 possession was given to John Coventry, Esq.,? by 
William Awbrey.’ It then became the property of Sir William 
Wyndham, who sold it to Richard Hoare, Esq., in 1736, who was 
afterwards knighted. He was Lord Mayor of London, 1745. In 
1892 Sir Henry Ainslie Hoare sold this farm to John White, Esq. 

Many of the fields on this estate still retain in a corrupted form 
their ancient nomenclature, viz., “ Gannage’’=Saxon gangweg, this 
being the roadway from the homestead to the arable land in 
demesne; ‘ Whurr’’=Saxon oare, the boundary of the enclosed 


1 (MSS. Phillips). Addenda p. 6, Hoare’s Wilts. 

2 Sir John Coventry resided in a house at Mere, which was pulled down 1711 
and the Ship Inn erected on its site. 

8 In South Wraxhall Church is a monument inscribed “ Here lieth the body of 
William Awbrey, late of Chaddenwych in the parish of Meer in the County of 
Wilts Esq., who dyed Jan. 8, 1664. 

William Aubrey, gent., of Chadenwyche, was M.P. for Hindon, 1559, therefore 
the Aubreys must have lived there before they purchased it. 

In Caversham Churchyard, near Reading, is a monument to the memory of 
Rachel, wife of Robert Awbrey, of Mere, in the County of Wilts, 1628. 


q 


By T. H. Baker. 247 


portion of the estate; “Stedham”’—the enclosure for horses ; 
“Whatley,” ? Wheatley—the wheat-field ; ‘Green Hayes,” 
“ Bisher Hayes,” and “‘ Washer Hayes” all retain the old Norman 
word haie=a hedge, and respectively mean the Green enclosure, 
Fisher’s and Washer’s enclosures; ‘“ Chilpits,”’ ? chalkpits, etc. 

The churchwardens’ book at Mere contains a record of a dispute 
between William Chafyn, gent., farmer of the parsonage of Mere, 
and divers of the inhabitants of Mere, concerning the tithe hay of 
the Ingrounds of the parish of Mere; in consequence of which a 
commission was appointed by the Court of Exchequer to decide the 
same :— 


“Int* Inquisicon et Expente de Anno xxvij° Regnne Elizabethe Jn Sari 
Remanentq ac in custodia Remen ejusdem Regine ibm existe int’ alia Conti- 
net". ut sequnt’. viz. : 

“Wilts. Where as a Commysyon was a wardyd owet of the honorable Courte 
of the exchequer berynge date the xijth daye of february in the xxvij‘" yere of 
the Raigne of o* sov’aigne ladye Queene Elyzabeth &c. And here unto annexed, 
dyrected to Willm Brouncker, lawrence Huyde & Henry Wylloughbye esquyers. 
And Willm Blacker gent. to heare & det'myn the varyences and stryfes growen 
betwyne Willm. Chafyn gent. ffarmer of the psonage of Mere of that one pte 
And John Dodyngton, Leonard Dodyngton and Thomas Awbrey gent., And 
John Pryde, Xpofer Alforde, John Deverell, Robrt Coward, leonarde Cowley, 
John fforwarde theldr, Edwarde ffoorde. And all the Reste of the inhabitance 
of the pysshe of Meere on that other pte for and Consernynge the tythe hay in 
the Ingrounds and of the Inhabitants of the pyshe of Mere aforesaid and by 
them Claymed to have contynuyed tyme owet of mynde under Rates certayne 
By vertue of w. Commysyon we the said Willm Bruncker, lawrence Huyde, 
Henry Wylloughby & Willm Blacker, called before us all the said ptys the 
xxi*t & xxij’ dayes of Julye in the said xxvij™ yere of her mat* Raigne & 
examyned dyus wytnysses And havinge harde what Could be said in ev'y behalfe 
in the ende w* the assent, consent, & good lyking of all the said ptyes & w the 
consente of the Deane of Sar. lorde of the said psonage. We have sette downe 
those Rates ffoloynge to have Contynuacon for ev' yf soe it shall lyke the said 
honorable Courte of Exchequer to allowe thereof. W*. wee doo heare certifye 
undr o° hands and vz., &c. 


“WILLM BRrouncKER Henry WILLOUGHBY 
“LAWRENCE HuyDE Wittm BiLacKker.” 


“Chadenwych. Imprimis. Thomas Awbrey gent. douthe holde the coppyhold 
messuadge of the mannor of Chadenw*. and dyv's lands and tenements in 
Chadenw™. aforesaid whereunto there doo belonge xiij™ Closes of Stocke medowe 
or ingrounde medowes called by the name of Worthmeade, balle knappe, balle 
medowe, pcke meade, south meade, Resons, Resons ou' mdow, Resons nether 
mdow, lyense nether mdow, lyense ou’ medow, marche parke & Veales parke, 


248 Notes on the History of Mere. 


ffor the w™ there hayth byn paid alwayes to the pson of Mere or his ffarmer or 
petr for the tythe hay dewe & payable owet of the same medowes, at lammas 
yerely beynge lawfully demaundyd the Rate or sum of v*, vj*. Also the said 
Thomas Awbrey douth holde one Copeyhold in Chadenw". aforesaid wherein 
Adryan Cowherd douth dwell Where unto there doo belonge one close & one 
porke of stock medowe or Inground medowes callyd Pytte close, the porke 
lyeth betwyxte Mylle lane and grene lane, and one acar in the Worthe under the 
Rate of vj’. 13: 

Peter Coleman als launder holdyth one Tenemt where unto there doo douthe 
belong flower medows called the greate medow, the lyttyl medowe, Wat" medowe 
als pytte close & the lyttyl medowe by the lane under the rate of : 

“ John Cowherde holdyth one Tenem'. where unto there doo belong one medowe 
called the Greate medowe And one other medowe called the lytyll medow under 
the rate of vj*.” 


The road from Mere to Chadenwyche was, till the beginning of 
this century :—through the river from Mere to Burton, then up 
Hollow Lane, through North Field and the copse now called 
“Burton Lane.” This is the lane mentioned in the document 
relating to the tithes, and there called ‘‘ Mylle Lane.” The present 
road from Chadenwych Farm to the main road, by the limekiln, 
was then private property, with a gate placed across it, and in the 
same document it is called ‘Green Lane.’ These alterations 
were made about the time the Mere inclosure took place. 

The Chapel, which was dedicated to St. Martin, stood at the east 
side of the garden; a portion of the wall is still standing, and may 
be recognised by the plinth. <A barn, built on the site, was pulled 
down a few years since, when part of a cross botonnée was dis- 
covered amongst the debris. 


Burron. 


This is a hamlet lying between Mere and Chadenwyche. It is 
now owned almost wholly by the Duchy of Cornwall, but a con- 
siderable portion has been purchased from other owners in recent 
times, the lands having been much intermixed. It consists of one 
principal farm, the farm house on which was erected by the Duke 
of Somerset shortly before he sold his estate to the duchy. Here 
stood another manor house belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall, 
which was destroyed about fifty years ago. It appears at one time 
to have been let on lives, as was customary. In 1606 Christopher 


By T. H. Baker. 249 


Awbry, gent., erected a seat in Mere Church for himself and his 
successors in his dwelling-house at Burton. In 1698 it was held 
by Mrs. Ann Bishop, widow. 

Burton seems to have in days gone by consisted of several small 
farms (chiefly copyholds under the Duchy of Cornwall) each having 
a share of arable in the tenantry fields with the pasturage of a strip 
of Burton Down; these are all now merged into Burton Farm or 
Mere Down Farm. 

A.D. 1274, Roger of Burton is one of the jurors of the hundred 
of Mere. 

1300, Eustace of Burton held two virgates and two purprestures 
by socage. 

John of Burton held one ferlingate of land by socage, lately held 
by his father, Richard of Burton. 

Nicholas Gomme held a domain which was the farm of Richard 
of Burton, viz., one messuage, 49 acres of land on the hills, 74 acres 
under the hills, 3 acres of meadow, and pasture for two-teeths 
worth 3s. per annum, for which he paid 31s. per annum. 

Most of the fields in this hamlet are still called after the names 
of their former owners as Alford’s, Hewitt’s, Millard’s, Gamblyn’s, 
Lucas’s, Farrer’s, &c., all which we find among the old parish 
documents. 

A document without date exists in Salisbury Cathedral :— 

“De Burtune in Mera. Unfridus de Bohun, dapifer regis, omnibus ad quos 
presens carta pervenerit ; salutem. Donationem illam quam Rogerus de 
Cesarisburgo et W. heres terrz de Burton fecerunt decano Sarum et ecclesiz de 
Mera. xii. solid. denariatas terre de feudo meo concedo, et presenti scripto 
confirmo. Et plegius sum, quod nec Rogerus, nec sui pro eo vel post eum 
cantariam ullam in capella de Burton per debitum clamabunt. Sed quando a 
decano et ejus capellano qui,est apud Meram hanc impetrare poterunt, et salvis 
decano decimis et omnibus consuetudinibus suis quas de terra de Burton antea 
habere solebat, tantum de proprio catallo suo facient erga capellanum decani 
quem ipse in predicta capella cantare velit, quando sibi vacaverit ; cum autem 
tempus pacis venerit cadit capella et redeant xii denariatz terre ad proprios 
heredes, nisi tune renovetur inter decanum et ipso (sic) conventio. 

“Testibus Margarita uxore meo ; et Unfrido filio meo ; et Adelelmo dapifero ; 


Ricardo pincerna: Unfrido de Scotvilla; Unfrido de Sco. Vigore ; Waltero 
Hosato; Rogero de Rocella.” ! 


1 From the Register of Bishop Osmund in the Cathedral of Salisbury. 


250 Notes on the History of Mere. 


As there is no record or tradition of a chapel at Burton probably 
the above document refers to one of the chantry chapels in the old 
Church at Mere. 

The Rev. John Hardcastle, Vicar of Mere, 1695 to 1734, owned 
lands at Burton, which probably came to him by his wife, who was 
daughter of Mrs. Bishop, who lived in the manor house there. She 
died 1711. Mr. Hardcastle, by his will, dated 1730, bequeathed 
these lands to Elizabeth Farrer (“ Farrer’s Ground ”’ still retains 
the name), a relative. She by her will, dated 1753, gave them to 
Thomas Ellis, of Mere, and John Farrer, of London. The latter 
dispersed his property, and that held by Thomas Ellis was sold to 
Mr. James Lander, viz., Garston, Little Garston, Stedham, and 
the homestead adjoining. In 1874 this was purchased by the 
duchy from Mr. Charles Lander. Other property of Ellis was sold 
to John Wilton, a wheelwright, and in 1787 a farm at Burton, 
consisting of a dwelling-house, outbuildings, and about 100 acres 
of land then let to Mr. William Ford as tenant, was sold by Mr. 
Ellis, and is probably the estate afterwards owned by the Duke of 
Somerset and sold by him to the Duchy of Cornwall about 1860. 


WoopLanpbs. 


Woodlands was for many years the residence of the Dodington 
family, whose arms (3 bugle horns sa., stringed gu.), are inserted 
in the porch on the south side of the house. These arms, with the 
erest (a stag lodged to the sinister side regardant ar. in his mouth an 
acorn or, stalked and leaved vert), may also be seen in the room under 
the chapel, over the fireplace, impaling Francis (argent a chevron 
between three annulets gu., pierced of the. field), on a chimneypiece 
still existing but much mutilated. This estate was owned by the 
family of Guphaye, and came to the Dodingtons in the fourteenth 
century by the marriage of Thomas Dodington, of Dodington, Co. 
Somerset, with Jane, daughter and heiress of John Guphaye, or 
Gupphey, of Mere Woodlands. ‘The exact date of this marriage is 
not known. They had one son, Philip. The father of this Thomas 
died before 1364, and his grandfather, Philip Dodington, in 1345, 


By T. H. Baker. 251 


therefore probably they settled here about the middle of that century. 

In 1568 the name of Christopher Dodyngton is mentioned as one 
of the justices who addressed a letter to Sir John Thynne requiring 
him to produce at Sarum “a trewe and juste accompt of suche sums 
of money” as had come to his hands for building the gaol at 
Fisherton, and in 1571 he is returned as qualified to lend £50 for 
the use of the crown, but he was “spared by the Counsell’s order at 
the first.” In 1574, he is charged for Burton Farm, which he 
held, and for his house and demesne at Woodlands. He died 1584, 
and his widow, Margaret in 1613. She was Margaret Francis, of 
Coombe Florey, Co. Somerset, and as the arms of Dodington im- 
paling Francis are still in existence on the chimneypiece in the 
house at Woodlands this is undoubtedly the period when great 
alterations were made in the structure. 

1574, John Dodington was reeve, and a customary tenant of the 
manor. 

Leonard Dodington and Christopher Dodington are charged for 
common silver. Leonard was reeve in 1581. 

1637. William Dodington was charged to a rate, and John 
Dodington was charged for the farm at Burton for a rate for 
poultry. 

1640, Joan Dodington had held two grist mills, now William 
Dodington’s. é 

1641, William Dodington was charged £8 0s. 2d. for the two 
customary mills in Meere and Woodlands. 

1641 and 1642, John and William Dodington were customary 
renters. 

1655, Mr. Dodington, of East Burton, in the parish of Meere, 
was a visitor at Mr. Willoughby’s, at Knoyle, before the rising at 
Sarum for participation in which Hugh Grove and Col. Penruddocke 
were beheaded. 

1672, Stephen Dodington mortgaged the estate to Matthew 
Andrews,' Esq., who was afterwards knighted and became a 


' 1695, Sir Matthew Andrews, Kt., was elected M.P. for Shaftesbury. The 
poll was:—Edward Nicholas, 110; Sir Matthew Andrews, Kt., 102; Sir John 


252 Notes on the History of Mere. 


resident in the mansion house of Woodlands. In 1705 he 
purchased Woodlands. He died 1711, and was buried in Mere 
Church. His coffin, with inscription on it, was found in the Still’s 
vault a few years since, together with that of Dame Ann Andrews, 
his wife, who died 1701. 

There are no memorials to the Dodington family in the Church, 
although many deaths are recorded in the registers. 

Sir Matthew Andrews was succeeded by his son, Henry, who 
sold the estate in 1753 to Richard Wotton, apothecary of St. 
George, Hanover Square, and William Kay, of the same place, 
gent., and in 1756 it was purchased by Thomas Pitt, Harl of 
Londonderry, from whom it descended to his son, who bequeathed 
it to his sister, Lady Lucy,! who married Pierce Meyrick. Lady 


Moreton, 97; Henry Cornish, 82. 1714, Henry Andrews was defeated ; Ed. 
Nicholas polled 140; Samuel Rush, 134; William Benson, 130; Henry Andrews, 
100. On petition Benson was declared duly elected, but none of the others, and 
a new writ was ordered for one member. 


1The following is from a newspaper published about thirty years since, 
headed “ A Romance of the last Century’ :— 

“When Lady Essex Cholmondeley’s sister, Lady Londonderry, died, Lady 
Essex had under her care Lady Londonderry’s only daughter, Lady Lucy Pitt. 
Miss Cholmondeley and her cousin were educated together with great strictness 
and exactness, almost amounting to severity. When the family were at Vale 
Royal the young ladies were only allowed to walk up and down for some hours, 
Lady Essex Cholmondeley placing herself at the window to watch them. They 
were to walk perfectly erect and never to speak. Lady Essex Cholmondeley had 
a house in London, near the parks. One day the two girls stayed out rather 
late, and as they passed by Lady Lucy’s uncle he said “ What will Lady Essex 
say to your being out so late?” The poor frightened girls at that moment met 
two Westminster boys whom they were acquainted with, the Mr. Meyricks, 
brothers, of Bodorgan, in the Island of Anglesea, the eldest heir to an immense 
estate and a beautiful place. The boys proposed that they should set off im- 
mediately for the Fleet and be married, and take the maidservant, who was then 
walking witk the young ladies, and then all sail over to France. They agreed 
to go, but Lady Lucy Pitt said she could not possibly go without a little figure 
of a dog, a toy that when it was pressed down the dog barked; and Miss 
Cholmondeley said that she must take with her a beautiful bird which opened 
the door of the cage, hopped out, and sang. So childish were the girls that they 
returned home solely to get these things. On their arrival at the Fleet they did 
not delay a moment, but sent for a clergyman, and they all went to Church, 
Lady Lucy Pitt not quite fourteen years old and Miss Cholmondeley thirteen. 
The clergyman demurred about marrying Lady Lucy, she was so very little, and in 


THE CHAPEL, WOODLANDS, MERE. 


THE HALL, WOODLANDS, MERE. 


By T. H. Baker. 253 


_ Lucy died 1802, and Woodlands fell to her daughter, Elizabeth 
~ Meyrick, who died 1816, unmarried, and, being entailed, the estate 
devolved on her cousin, Owen Lewis Meyrick, Rector of Hols- 
worthy, who died 1819, and was succeeded by his son, Rev. 
William Meyrick. From him the estate came to Meyrick Bankes, 
Esq., of Winstanley Hall, near Wigan. He died 1881, and his 
representatives still hold the property. 
 Mr.C.E. Ponting, F.S8.A.,in 1888 wrote the following description 
and report on the then condition of Woodlands House :— 
“The manor house (of which only the hall remains) and the chapel 
: appear to have been erected in the latter half of the fourteenth 
century, probably 1370—80, during the period of ‘ transition’ from 
‘ Decorated’ to ‘ Perpendicular,’ of which we have a beautiful and 
authenticated example in Edington Church (1361). The work at 
Woodlands presents the same curious mixture of the details of both 
styles; thus the east window of the chapel has mouldings which 
_ are characteristic of the earlier period, with the tracery of the latter 
fairly fully developed. The window on the north side of the 
sacrarium has similar mouldings, while the tracery is of an earlier 
or ‘flowing’ type, but there is no lack of evidence that both are 
coeval with the rest of the building. 

“The building forming the chapel is of two stories, but as there 
are no original windows in the lower storey, nor a doorway as 
early as the walls, I conjecture that it was only constructed for 
the purpose of raising the chapel to a higher level than that of the 
hall, and it appears not to have been otherwise utilized. The chapel 


a frock, and both children in all respects. However, they put the maidservant’s 
gown on Lady Lucy Pitt, and she was married to the eldest Mr. Meyrick, and 
Miss Cholmondeley to his brother. They were stepping into the vessel to sail 
away when they were all seized by Lady Essex Cholmondeley and her party. 
The boys were sent abroad, and the girls carried back to London and severely 
‘reprimanded and locked up. Poor children, they were perfectly miserable. If 
‘the clergyman had not delayed in regard to Lady Lucy, the parties would have 
‘sailed for France. This extraordinary affair was the cause of the ‘ Marriage 
Act,’ the two young couples being of such high rank and having immense 


ngland with the consent of all the relations and friends. (Copied by per- 
mission from the papers of Vale Royal, the seat of Lord Delamere.)” 
(From an old newspaper cutting. —T.H.B.) 

VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVIII. T 


254 Notes on the History of Mere. 


proper remains structurally in its original condition, the walls, roof, 
two square-headed windows on the north and a pointed one in the 
east: the doorway opening into it from the hall (as well as the one 
leading to the chapel) with its door and jiinges and the piscina in the 
south wall of the sacrarium, are all parts of the original building. 
It has also a coeval outside built-up doorway in the north wall, 
which could only have been approached by an external stairs, and 
there are traces of a west window which was removed to make way 
for the Elizabethan chimneypiece. The first alteration in the 
building appears to have been the insertion of two windows and an 
inside doorway in the walls of the apartment beneath the chapel : 
this took place probably about 1530, when the north door of the 
chapel was doubtless built up and the stairs removed. 

“About the year 1600 the chapel was converted into a living 
room, and a chimney stack built against the outside of the wall (as 
the construction of the masonry shows). A chimney piece of rich 
design was put at the west end of the chapel, and a similar one 
bearing the arms of Dodington impaling Francis,! in the room 
beneath, the latter also had the addition of an elaborate plaster 
ceiling, part of which has been destroyed over the portion screened 
off. But beyond these and some modern fittings to adapt the 
chapel as a cheese-room and the space beneath as a sitting-room 
and pantry, no alteration has been made in the building, and in it 
is presented to us, up to the present time, one of the most complete 
specimens of a domestic chapel of the middle ages that it is possible 
to find. 


“The contemplated operations, as set forth in the specification of which I 
received a copy February, 1888, would destroy features of the greatest possible 
value here, and, in fact, well-nigh obliterate all the historical evidence the building 
affords: they consist of :— 

“1, Removing the ‘circular ceiling,’ which is the original barrel vault of 
the roof, and substituting a flat one (a portion of the hall roof has 
already been hidden from view by similar means, though not 
destroyed). 


> 


1 Christopher Dodington, who died 1584, was a man of importance in his day, 
and: doubtless it was he who converted the chapel and the room beneath into 
living rooms, made the rich plaster ceilings in the latter, and built the chimney. 
This would thus appear to have been done a few years earlier than I supposed, 
judging from the work only, or 1560—1570. C.E.P. 


WOODLANDS. 


CHIMNEYPIECE IN ROOM UNDER CHAPEL 


\) 


Wy ey 


MERE. 


’ 


THE SHIP INN 


By T. H. Baker. 255 


“2. ‘Taking out the stone windows,’ which are good for centuries to come 
and are the most important features of the place, and substituting 
deal ones. 

“3. Destroying the beautiful Elizabethan ceiling of the room under the 
chapel, and putting a new plain one. 

“ Apart from archzological considerations I am of opinion that those of 
practical economy can be much better served by retaining and repairing the 
existing features, which are far more durable than anything which would take 
their place; and that it can be carried out without increased cost—whilst the 
comfort and convenience of the occupier can be equally well met. 

“There are serious items of disrepair which need immediate attention—the 
windows both as regards the stonework and the glazing are in a bad state, half 
the tracery of one having disappeared, and other parts are badly fractured; the 
side walls are spreading owing to the giving way of the main framing of the 
roof; whilst the disturbance of the west wall by the Elizabethan alterations has 
caused it to settle outwards, and the chimney (which appears to have insufficient 

_ foundations) is assisting this movement. 

: “The method of repair which I advise is as follows :— 

“To underpin with cement concrete the foundations of the west end for its 
entire length, and the north-west buttress. 

“To repair the oak wall-plate of the roof and strap it with iron at the joints 
to secure a longitudinal tie, the ends having short bolts and ‘S’ plates outside: 

“To insert a transverse iron tie-rod across the centre of the roof and through 
the walls, under the wall-plate with ‘S’ plates on the outside; this might be 
suspended to the circular ribs in the centre, and so treated as not to be an unsightly 
object. 

“To take out and carefully re-build the bulged parts of the walls, at the north- 
west angle, and on the north side, against the two-light window, and insert new 
bonding stones. To re-set the inside arch of the two-light window in the north 
side, and reinstate the fractured stone in it. 

“To key up the inside arches of the three-light window and doorway in the 
north wall, and run the joints with thin cement, and repair the wall over the 
door. 

“To restore the missing tracery of the two-light window of the chapel by 
copying the two halves of lights which remain: and the transom by the fragment 
left in the jambs. 

“To carefully repair the defective stonework of other windows, piecing wherever 
possible, and only renewing where stones are too far gone for this ; running all 
bad joints with thin cement. (In this work the greatest care should be taken 
not to scrape the surface of old stonework.) 

“To reinstate two defective buttress weatherings. 

“To cut out and repair the masonry of the north wall where cracked on the 
inside face, and insert stones across the fractures. 

“To re-glaze the windows with lead lights (for preference), inserting new 
iron saddle bars when missing, and putting a wrought iron casement to open in 
each window. The windows might thus be made as free from draught as the 

contemplated new ones. 
_ “To repair the Elizabethan ceiling of the sitting-room under the chapel by 


tT 2 


7 


256 Notes on the History of Mere. 


strapping and bolting it up to the joists where loose with Hin. or Sin. iron 
‘coach screws,’ having ‘2 x 2’ thin plates of iron (or copper would be better) 
under the heads, let in flush with the surface. (This is a treatment I have 
recently adopted with a similar ceiling, and with great success.) The cracks 
and defective parts might then be cut out and stopped with plaster. 

“The tiling of the roof should be stripped and re-laid on cleft oak laths, as 
specified, and opportunity should at the same time be taken to strengthen the 
framing of the principals by straps or bolts at the joints. 

“Mr. Hooper pointed out an interesting oak Jacobean window in the furnace- 
house, which he has instructions to take out and supersede by one of deal. I 
think an examination of the old one will show that it is in a sufficiently sound 
state to last longer than the new, and it would be a pity to remove it. 

“T earnestly hope that some such repair as I have above indicated may be 
carried out, and that this interesting structure may be spared the well-meant 
but injurious handling with which it was threatened. 


“C, E. Pontine.” 


In explanation of the above it should be stated that in 1888 it 
came to the knowledge of the Rev. E. G. Wyld, then Vicar of 
Mere, that a contract had been signed by a local builder to carry 
out certain repairs and alterations in the chapel, which would 
have completely destroyed all the leading architectural features of 
the building ; consequently he immediately communicated with 
Mrs. Banks (the owner) and with the Secretary of the Wilts 
Archeological Society, begging that the work might not be begun 
till a report had been made on the state of the chapel and as to the 
possibility of its being restored without being vandalised. Mr. 
Ponting was instructed to examine the building, and the report 
given above was the outcome of his inspection. It is a satisfaction: 
to be able to say that Mr. Ponting’s suggestions were to a great 
extent carried out, and the structure has been judiciously restored, 
and its original architectural features retained. 


Barrow STREET 


is another hamlet of Mere, lying between Mere Park and Chaden- 
wyche. It consists of three farms, two of which are part of the 
Duchy of Cornwall, the other belongs to Sr H. H. Hoare, Bart. 
Of the former, Breacues Farm—originally La Bréche—is about 
322 acres in extent, and is annexed to Conwich, which till the 
early part of this century was a separate holding. 


Cross Loft in Town Hall, Mere 
[from Gent. Mag.) 


Woodlands House. [Yrom Gent. Mag. 1825 ] 


By T. H. Baker. 257 


In 1300 the park of Conwicu was inclosed and 163 perches of 
new fence erected. The house and buildings attached thereto 
have entirely disappeared, and the site is almost forgotten. 

Barrow Street derives its name from the existence of a large 
barrow, which formerly stood near the end of the “street”? which 
connects Barrow Street with West Knoyle. Sir H. H. Hoare’s 
farm is about 94 acres in extent. There are a few cottages here. 

Adjoining Barrow Street on the south-west lies Busx Hayes 
Farm, now owned by John Curtis, Esq., of Yeovil; its original 
extent was 46a. 37. 5p., but it has been enlarged of late years by 
the addition of lands purchased in its vicinity. In the latter part 
of the last century and the beginning of this one it belonged to the 
Merryweather family, who resided at Mere Park. 

1617 and 1621, Christopher Awbrey is assessed for Bush Hayes. 

1631, William Rogers was owner. 

Leigh Marsu, 52 acres—originally Duchy property—was 
exchanged for other lands in the parish belonging to the Grove 
estate, and is now added to Wet Lane Farm. Here is a field 
called ‘ The Moot,” and, being near the boundary of the Forest of 
Gillingham, it probably is the spot on which the rights of the 
foresters were discussed. 

Buack Hovusrt Farm, lying between Leigh Marsh and Barrow 
Street, was for many years, and till recently, owned by the Bower 
family. Here is a field called “ Paradise.” The present owner is 
William Keates. Its extent is about 22 acres. 

Wuirenitt Farm is the property of G. T. Chafyn Grove, Esq. 
This was formerly called La Leigh. 

Swayne’s Forp and Hast Swayne’s Ford are part of the Duchy 
of Cornwall, and have both of late years been augmented by copy- 
holds which have fallen into hand, which were intermixed. 

Tue Manor Farm, as at present constituted, was put in its 
present form about 1844, when the whole of the Duchy farms were 
re-modelled and many new buildings erected. 

_ Mere Down Frm has for many years been in existence, even 
when most of the parish was in tenantry fields, but in 1844 it was 
enlarged, and new buildings were erected, as was the case with the 


” —=—_ 


258 Notes on the History of Mere. 


other farms belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall. The farm house 
and buildings adjacent were erected about 1720, when tradition 
says the homestead was built for the “ Lord Farmer” of the Duchy 
rents, &c. The bricks were made at “ Knoll,” a hamlet now in 
Barrow Street Farm, and considering there were no macadamised 
roads in those days the cost of transit must have been enormous. 

Prospecr Farm is a very recent formation, in its present extent, 
being principally composed of the rectorial glebe (which was sold 
by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners) and various contiguous pieces 
of land belonging to the Grove estate, some of which was acquired 
by exchange with the Duchy of Cornwall. 


AGRICULTURAL Survey, 1793. 


An unpublished MS., evidently intended to form a portion of a 
report on the agriculture of the County of Wilts, dated 1793, and 
entitled “ Agricultural Survey of Wiltshire,” has lately come to 
light (probably from the Stourhead Library). It was apparently 
written for the Board of Agriculture, but the writer confined his 
notes to this district, and did not complete his work. 

The pages are divided into two columns, and subjoined is a literal 


copy of the portion relating to Mere :— 


GENERAL OUTLINES OF SITUATION 
AND STATE OF PROPERTY. 


1. Mere with the Hamlets of 
2. Zeales. 
3. Wolverton, 
4, Chaddenwyche. 
5. Burton. 

Nos. 1 and 6 are held by Geo. Au- 
gustus Schutz, Esq., under the Prince 
of Wales. 

Nos. 2 and 3 chiefly to the Devisees 
of W. Chafin Grove, Esq., whose 
residence was at Zeales. No. 4 is 
Sir Richard Hoare’s. 

Rectory is Mr. Grove’s, held under 


Vicarage is a Peculiar of Dean of 
Sarum, present Incumbent Rev. Mr. 
Allix. 


So1zr—Size or IncLosurxs, &c. 


Zeals and Wolverton are inclosed 
and chiefly Sand Land. 

Mere has a few Inclosures South 
of the town, also a few Inclosed farms 
particularly Mere Park farm, but the 
greatest part of Mere Land is still in 
Common, viz., four Arable fields. 

A Large Common. 
Common Meadows, 
Common Downs. 

Soil of the three fields toward the 
Downs is Whiteland, and that toward 
Stourton a very bad Whiteland. 

The field E. of Town—good Loam. 

Meadows and Comon Pastures, 
strong clayey Loam and capable of — 
great improvement. 

Chaddenwych farm is several, and 


By T. H. Baker. 259 


Mere is a small Market Town 
situate immediately under the N. W. 
Point of Wiltshire Downs, Part of 
the Lands extending South into 
Gillingham Vale and part Northward 
(or N. E.) towards Maiden Bradley 
and Kingston Deverill, some way on 
the Downs. 


the Meadow inclosed, the Arable not 
inclosed. 

Mere Down farm is several, but 
Arable not inclosed. 


APPLICATION oF LAND aND MeEtHop oF MANAGEMENT AND MANURES USED. 


The four comon fields of Mere are 
cropt thus :— 
Wheat. 
Barley. 
Clover mowed and usually seeded. 
: Clover fed. 

Most of the Landholders keep 
separate Flocks and feed the Fields in 
Districts settled among themselves. 
The little farmers feed a certain Dis- 
trict with a Comon flock. 

They have chiefly some Grass In- 
closures on the South of the Town to 
each farm on which they mow Hay 
and some of them lett Dairies. 

They feed the Downs in Common. 

The Common fields and Comon are 
reckoned dangerous for Sheep in Wet 
Seasons for want of Draining. Having 
_ no Water Meadows, they generally 
keep their Ewes and Lambs on Hay 
and Water—and having no Turnips 
and few inclosed Pastures they usually 
winter their Lambs out. 

Stock KEPT & REMARKS THEREON. 

Sheep. Wiltshire long horned and 
in the present uninclosed state of the 
fields cannot be improved. 

No. about 3200. 

Cows. A Mixture of all kinds but 
chiefly Long horned. 

Working beasts. Chiefly Horses. 

Seldom any Oxen kept. 


In the LowLands there is a Stratum 
of clayey Loam—next a Stratum of 
Flint—and then Blue Marle or rather 
Clay, which runs South-west and in 
the next Parish [Knoyle] becomes 
pure Marle. 

This Clay or Marle is reckoned here 
a good Manure, but they have so little 
inclosed Meadow that very little of 
it is used. 

Chalk is used as a Manure on the 
Sands of Mere in Zeals Tything. 

The Commonable Lands of this 
Parish would improve much by an 
Inclosure. The Chalk from the Hills 
and the Clay (or Marle) in the Valley 
might then be used to great advantage 
on whatis now the Comon Meads and 
Comons. 

The Comon fields are manured at 
present (but in a very bad way) with 
the Sheep fold. 

GENERAL RemarKs. 


Mr. Grove’s Tenant takes up the 
greatest part of the Corn and Hay. 
Tythes in kind. He letts his own 
Farms (viz., Zeals) Tythe free. 

The Vicar takes Tythes of Clover 
Seed, of which a considerable quantity 
is raised in this parish, even in the 
Comon fields. He has a modus of 
2d. a Cow and 4d. a Calf. 

Sir Rd. Hoare has a good Wood at 
Chaddenwych, but little Timber in it, 
and Mr. Grove a good Wood at Zeales 
with a considerable quantity of Oak 
Timber in it. 

Timber in the Hedges chiefly Elm 
and very good, 


260 Notes on the History of Mere. 


It will be seen from the foregoing description of the state of 
things agricultural in 1793 that the ancient system of tenure 
existed here till a recent date. The demesne land on the lord’s 
farm had its land in severalty, the remainder was divided into copy- 
hold tenements, some of which still exist, but they are gradually 
dying out as no renewals have been made for the last fifty years. 
A portion of these stocked the tenantry down with a common flock ; 
the portion allotted for this purpose was what is now the down 
attached to the Manor Farm. The tenants at Burton held under 
somewhat different terms, each copyholder there having his separate 
strip of down. This is still called Burton Down, and was added 
to Mere Down Farm when the farms were re-arranged in 1844. 
The custom of the manor was to grant leases for three lives, and 
the widow of the last life in possession held the tenement by 
widowhood and chastity. 

There was a considerable number of tenements in the parish held 
also for lives under the Dean of Salisbury, who was Rector of Mere. 
These, with other glebe lands, were transferred to the Ecclesiastical 
Commissioners in 1836, who disposed of the greater portion of their 
property here to the late Miss Julia E. Chafyn Grove, who again 
sold it in small lots in 1862. One holding, consisting of a house 
adjoining the churchyard and about 7 acres of land, is still held on 
lives by Captain Still, under the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. 
The rectorial tithes were restored to the Dean and Chapter of 
Sarum in 1896. 


Inctosure Act. 


The Mere Inclosure Act was passed in 1807, but the award of 
the Commissioners was not made till 1821. By this act 840 acres 
of pasture and meadow land were inclosed and allotted to those 
entitled to rights of pasturage thereon. Great opposition was 
given to the act, and the following notice, signed by sixty of the 
principal copyholders, was issued by them :— 


“We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, having an unlimited right to feed 
and depasture all sorts of cattle on the commons, belonging to Mere, &c., do 
hereby give notice, that we dissent to and disapprove of an application being 


By T. H. Baker. 261 


made to Parliament in the ensuing Session or any subsequent Session, for leave 
to bring in a Bill for the purpose of dividing, allotting, or inclosing the same, 
would be very hurtful to the inhabitants of Mere in general, and particularly 
distressing to the poor, and would bring and entail upon the parish a heavy 
incumbrance.” 


Notwithstanding the above opposition the act was passed, but 
riotous proceedings ensued, and the military were called out to 
suppress the tumultuous doings of the malcontents. In the Salisbury 
Journal of March 19th, 1810, is a detailed account of the affair :— 


“The inclosures of Milton and Mere Commons have excited much discontent. 
On Saturday se’nnight nearly three hundred men from Gillingham and parts 
adjacent met on Maperton Hill and Pier’swood and destroyed a long line of the 
new fences. A troop of horse from Dorchester barracks is now quartered in 
the neighbourhood, and several ringleaders of the rioters have been taken into 
custody. Four of them were on Friday lodged in Fisherton Gaol, where they 
are to remain for trial till the next assizes.” 


; On March 26th is a further account :— 


‘Since our last seventeen more of the deluded men who were concerned in 
destroying the fences of the new inclosures on Mere Common have been appre- 
hended and lodged in prison, viz., eight in Fisherton Gaol and nine in Dorchester 
Gaol, all for trial at the next assizes.” 


At the assizes held at Salisbury in August, 1810, Stephen 
Longyear, Benjamin Gray, Robert Gray, Philip Fricker, James 
Longyear, Aaron Gatehouse, William Shepperd, John Ridout, 
William Snook, and William Hill were charged with having 
riotously assembled at Mere and pulled down and destroyed the 
fences of certain allotments of land, late part of the common, 
inclosed under the late act. They were found guilty of having on 
the 10th of March last riotously and tumultuously assembled 
together at Mere and unlawfully destroyed certain fences on Mere 
Common; whom the judge, after pointing out to them the 
heinousness of their offence, but taking into consideration their 
long imprisonment, liberated (with the prosecutor’s consent) on 
their own recognizances of £100 each, for their personal appearance 
to receive the judgment of the court when called upon by the 
prosecutors and for their good behaviour for three years. This 
appears to have had the desired effect, for no disturbance took place 


262 Notes on the History of Mere. 


after. These riotous proceedings must have been encouraged by 
persons in a higher station of life than those punished. An old 
lady lately residing at Bourton recollects a farmer’s son riding 
into the town every evening and blowing a horn, which was the 
signal given for the assemblage of a band of roughs, who proceeded 
to the commons and levelled the banks which had been erected 
during the day. This seems more unaccountable since the tract 
of land between Mere and Gillingham served only as a shelter 
to rogues and horse-stealers. 


TITHEs. 


Before the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act the tithes were 
often taken in kind. This led to continual squabbles. In 1841 
the Rev. Henry Wake, the Vicar, circulated the following state- 
ment :— 


“The Rev. Henry Wake was inducted into the vicarage of Mere in 1813. A 
surveyor was employed by him to value the vicarial tithes. His valuation was 
£513 per annum clear of all parochial assessments. The Commissioners under 
the Property Tax valued the vicarial tithes at £530. The valuation of the same 
property by the Commissioners under the Inclosure Act of Mere Common was 
£400 per annum. Mr. Wake authorised Mr. Chitty, of Shaftesbury, to make an 
offer of the vicarial tithes to the parishioners at £300 perannum. This offer 
was rejected. The property was in consequence collected in kind at considerable 
expense and loss. Mr. Wake then granted a lease of the property for seven 
years to a Mr. Dowbiggin, of Hextable Farm, in the county of Kent, at £400 
per annum. In 1821 this lease expired. The tithes were again offered to the 
parishioners at £300 per annum. This offer was not accepted, but the farmers 
in return made an offer of £200 per annum. Under the peculiar circumstances 
of the time (the spring being considerably advanced and the greater part of the 
lambs having fallen, which constitute a principal portion of the vicarial tithes) 
it was deemed prudent to accept the offer; when, to the great surprise of the 
vicar, the farmers of Mere refused to abide by their own offer, after such offer 
was accepted by the vicar, and forced him to collect the property in kind, which 
was effected at considerable expense and subsequent loss. At length, in 1824, 
Mr. Phillips, the principal landholder in Mere, obtained a composition from the 
parishioners of Mere of £260 per annum, secured to the vicar by a lease for a 
term of seven years, granted to Messrs. Phillips, Robert White, and John Burfit, 
which lease expired in 1831. In consequence of the depression in the price of 
agricultural produce Mr. Wake allowed an abatement of £10 per cent. during 
the last two years of the term, exclusive of which he relinquished his claim to 
the poor on the tithe of potatoes.” 


By T. H. Baker. 263 


The pasture land in Mere was subject toa modus of 2d. for 
every milch cow and 4d. for every calf, and, as moduses had to be 
taken into consideration by the commissioners at the apportionment, 
the tithe rent charge is very low on the pastures of Mere. Every 
garden, also, was liable to a modus of 1d., every poultry yard, 1d., 
and every orchard, 1d. 

The tithes, as apportioned, are :—rectorial, £732 per annum ; 
vicarial, £400 per annum; manorial, £9 15s. per annum. 

Certain lands paid Lammas tithes, amounting in the whole to 
about £8 per annum. These were paid on Lammas Day in the 
churchyard, where the collector sat to receive them on a certain 
tomb which—like the custom itself—has succumbed to old age.’ 


Tur Cuantry Howse. 


1424, King Henry the Sixth granted to the Dean and Chapter 
of the Church of the Blessed Mary of Sarum, that they might give 
and assign to Richard Cheddesey, Henry Rochell, and John Culpek, 
chaplains of the chantry of the Blessed Mary in the Church of 
Mere, a certain piece of their garden near to the churchyard of the 
parochial church: of the Blessed Mary of Mere, lying on the 
southern part thereof, and containing one acre, holden by them as 
of the Duchy of Cornwall, 


“ad edificandum et componendum super eandem peciam mansiones pro eisdem 
capellanis necessarias ; qui quidem capellani aliquam habitationem ad commo- 
randum insimul et in communi ante hee tempora non habuerunt.” 


This, doubtless, was the origin of the present Chantry House and 
the date of its erection. The other house alluded to probably stood 
on the site of that called ‘‘ Dean’s Orchard,” whieh is of much later 
date. 

_ The Rev. William Barnes kept a boarding school in the Chantry 
House from 1827 to 1835, and here many of his poems in the 
Dorset dialect were written. 


1 For document relating to tithes at Deverel see Appendix. 


264 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Tue CuHantry LAnNps. 


In the “ Valor Ecelesiasticus,’ Anno Domini 1534, it is stated 
there are three chantries in Mere Church, and that that they were 
all of the foundation of John Berkeley, Knight. Henry Duvall, 
custos of the three chantries, affirms his portion thereof to be worth 
annually £6 138s. 2d., subject to a deduction of 14s. 1d.; John 
Smith, another cantarist, £6 6s.; and Richard Swayne, a third 
cantarist, £7 12s. 2d., with a deduction of 25s.; making together 
an annual income of £18 12s. 3d. Out of this sum 10s. was 
distributed yearly to the poor, that they might pray for the soul of 
the founder; a rent of 10s. paid to Roger Stourton; and a third 
sum of 5s. to the Dean of Sarum; again reducing the clear annual 
value to £17 7s. 3d. 

In the first year of Edward VI. (1547), when chantries were 
suppressed, it was found that the annual income of the “ Barkelye 
Chauntrie”’? amounted to £23 10s. 10d., with the following 
deductions :— 

£ 

A rent to the King’s manor of Mere 1 

A like rent to the Dean and Chapter of Sarum 0 
Two like rents on land called “‘ Saddleborne,” 

to Mr. Morton and Peter Greene 013 4 


s. a. 
Lid 
6 4 


leaving £21 Qs. 9d. as the clear annual value. 


“The lands belonging unto Barkelyes Chauntrie consist of two parts, and are 
scituate in two several places, viz.: Clopton and in Meere. The lands in Clopton 
are one particular, and the rent of assias goeing out of the same is £5 6s. 8d. 
The lands in Meere are thirty-two parcels or particulars and the rent of assias 
is £18 4s.2d.; one of which parcels are six acres of arable lande lyinge in the 
fieldes of Meere, late John Alford’s; the rent per annum is 4s.6d. The total 
rent of assias is £23 10s. 10d. 

“ It appears on the Rolle of Particulars, where the premises were passed away 
from the Crown to Sir John Thynn, Knight and Lawrence Hyde Esq. for Thomas 
Chafyn Esq. that the said repris’s paid to the Mannor of Meere were extinguished, 
both mannors being in the Crowne; soe that all the repris’s are but 6s. 8d. to 
the deane of Sarum and 13s. 4d. to Morton and Greene out of Saddlebourne ; so 
the remainder is £22 lls. 2d.” 


By T. H. Baker. 265 


In addition to the revenue from lands in Cucklington and Mere, 
amounting to £21 9s. 9d. annually, this chantry owned plate 
weighing ten ounces, and goods and ornaments worth 75s. 10d. 
There were three incumbents :—John Gelebrand, aged 48 years ; 
Richard Swayne, aged 63 years; and John Ferarde, aged 40 years. 

“ Forward’s Chauntry, Richard Chafynne incumbent, aged 20 
years. Several small pieces of land belonging to this chantry lay 
in Knoyle, Corton, and Motcombe. Clear yearly value, 106s. 4d. ; 
plate, 19% ounces; goods and ornaments, 5s.” 

The Commissioners add to their report :— 


** M4 The sayd Incumbentis be verey honeste men, and of good report amonge 
there neighbours, albeit not able to sve a Cure by reason of their Infyrmytyes 
and weakenes, and ferthermore verey poore men, and have none other lyvinges but 
these chuntryes only. Also the sayd Rychard Swayne re-edyfyed all the houses 
app’teyning unto the sayd Chuntre after they were brent, at his own ppe 
costis and chargis, to the accomplishement whereof he solde xl*. land of his owne 
inherytaunce, and also is yet indebtyd x". vj‘. viij*. for the repayment whereof he 
layd in gage ij peyre of vestementis of blewe velvet, ande one payre of Cruettis 
of Sylvr, wiche thingis be not worthe so moche money as they lye for; in con- 
syderacon of wiche pmissis he prayith the Kingis most honorable councell to 
consyder hym accordinglye. 

“ Also there be within the parish of Mere 800 people which receive the blessed 
communion and no preste beside the Vicar to help in administration of the 
sacraments, savynge the sayde Chauntry Preests, wherefore the Parishioners 
desyre the King’s most hon Councell to consider hit accordinglye.” ! 


These three incumbents received pensions in 1553, Richard 
Chafynne, of Forward’s Chantry, receiving £6. 

In 1548 lands in Gillingham and Motcombe, belonging to 
Berkeley’s Chantry in Mere, were granted to John Thynne, Esq. 

In 1552, November 20th, Sir John Thynne, Knight, granted to 
Thomas Chafyn, Esq., a lease of all those his messuages, cottages, 
orchards, lands and meadows, pastures, feedings, rents, reversions 
and hereditaments in Mere, now or late in the several tenures and 
occupations of Thomas Denham and others, called ‘‘ Barkeleye 
Chauntery,” for a term of fifty-one years, ata rent of £12 14s.6d. 


1 The quotation is here printed as given in Kite’s Brasses of Wiltshire. Sir 
-R. C. Hoare gives it in Modern Wilts with considerable differences of spelling, 
and apparently not so correct as that given by Kite. 


266 Notes on the History of Mere. 


In 1563, November 5th, Sir John Thynne further sold to the 
said Thomas Chafyn, Esq., the aisle or chantry chapel, 
“ adjoining and placed on the sowthe side of the parish church of Meere aforesaid, 
wherein lately the late chantry priest of some certayne chantry, being in Meere 
aforesaid, called the Chantry of the Blessed Virgyn Mary, in Meere, used to saye 
masse; and which chappel or ile lately app’tained to the said chantry, and came 
to the handes of our late Soverign Lord, of famous memory, King Edward the 
Sixth, by the dissolution of the said chantry, by forse of the Act of P’liament 
made in the first yeare of the rayne, of the said late kynge, cone’ning giving of 
chantries to the saide late kinge, his heyres and successors, and after granted by 
the said late kinge by his letters patents, amongest other things, to me the said 
Sir John Thynne, and to one Lawrence Huyde, Gent, and to my heyres for ever.” 


The grantees of the chantry and its endowment were both com- 
missioners acting on behalf of the Crown at the suppression. The 
chapel having been purchased by Thomas Chafyn, Esq., became 
the burial-place of that family and their descendants, the Groves, of 
Zeals, and contains many sepulchral memorials appertaining to both. 

But subsequent to this conveyance it appears that a chantry 
bearing the name of Berkeley’s was granted by Queen Elizabeth, 
A.D. 1592, by letters patent to Edward Downinge and Roger 
Mant, their heirs and assigns, together with certain lands, tene- 
ments, etc. 

In 1609 the chantry lands were granted by the King (James I.) 
to Frances Phellips, and Richard Moore, Gent., their heirs and 
assigns, for ever, on payment of an annual fine of £3 17s. ld. 
All which premises in Mere were formerly the property of the 
Chantry of Mere. 

These chantry lands were afterwards held by Henry Andrews, 
Esq., only son and heir to Sir Matthew Andrews, Knight, who was 
buried at Mere, 16th March, 1711. 

Twenty tenements also belonged to the chantry, the rents of 
which amounted to £11 4s., besides three tenements of Thomas 
Stourton, valued at 1s. 10d., and four of Mrs. Moore’s at ls. 8d., 
both of whom are described in an old court roll as tenants of the 
chantry. 

There are still chantry rents collected at Mere, by the repre- 
sentatives of the late Meyrick Bankes, Esq., whose ancestors 


By T. H. Baker. 267 


purchased the whole of the property in Mere formerly owned by 
Sir Matthew Andrews. They are charged on eleven different 
holdings, and amount in the whole to the sum of £10 5s. 4d. per 
annum. 

The following admissions as chantry chaplains are recorded :— 
1408, Henry Rochell, the same day, Robert Carpenter; 1418, 
John Dudley, void by the death of Richard Rede; 1423, John 
Gulpeke ; 1548, John Gelybronde. 


Tuer Cuurcy Puate! 


consists of two Chalices, precisely similar, 81in. in height, with a 
straight-sided bowl and knot on the stem; the base of the bowl 
and the foot are gadrooned. The only mark found is a square 
shield containing the letters V.R. surmounted by a coronet. One 
is inscribed :— 


‘© Ex dono Jacobi filii Thome Alford de Mear, 1630.” 


The other bears the inscription :— 
“ Christopher Twogood, Robert Elling, Churchwardens of Mear, 1700.” 


Both are evidently of the same date—1700—when in all 
probability the Chalice inscribed 1630 was re-made from an older 
cup of that date. 

Chalice No. 3, of silver parcel-gilt, together with its paten, 
bearing the hall-marks of 1881 and inscribed :— 


“St. Matthew’s Church, Mere, Sept. 21st, 1882.” 


A massive Flagon of tankard shape, 113in. in height, and a Paten 
10in. in diameter, both of the Britannia standard, bearing the hall- 
marks of 1699 and 1700; the maker’s mark on the flagon being 
90, for Samuel Hood, and on the paten Ro, for Hugh Roberts. 

The Flagon is inscribed :— 


“The gift of Mrs. Jane Weldon? to the Parish Church of Mear in the County 
of Wilts Ano Dom. 1699.” 


1 See Nightingale’s Church Plate of Wilts, p. 93. 


? Mrs. Jane Weldon was sister of Mrs. Mary Chafin. They were daughters 
of Thomas Freke, of Hinton, Co. Dorset, Esq. 


268 Notes on the History of Mere. 


The Paten has the same inscription, with the date 1700. 

There is also engraved on the Flagon her coat of arms,’on a 
lozenge. A cingquefoil, on a chief a demi-lion rampant (Weldon) 
impaling Two bars, in chief three mullets (Freke). 

There is also a similar massive Flagon and Paten dish of the 
same dimensions, bearing the same maker’s marks of Hugh 
Roberts, and engraved with a lozenge and mantling, A tadlbot 
passant, a chief ermine (Chafyn) impaling Two bars, in chief three 
mullets (Freke). On the Flagon and Paten is inscribed :— 


The gift of Mrs. Mary Chafin, to the Parish Church of Mear in the County 
of Wilts Anno Dom, 1700.” 


Two silver Patens, on feet, 52in. in diameter, 24in. high, were 
found by G. Troyte Chafyn Grove, Esq., amongst the Zeals House 
plate in 1892, and were by him presented to the Church. Both 
have shields of arms in the centre, and are Britannia-marked, the 
date letter being for 1713 (?). The maker’s mark C in a square 
shield. Weight, 5ozs. 15dwts. 

One silver spoon was given by Mrs. H. R. Lloyd in 1891— 
length, 6}in.; weight, loz. 4dwts. Hall-marked 1890. 


Tur CHURCHWARDENS’ ACCOUNTS. 


The churchwardens’ accounts date as far back as 1556, and with 
the exception of the years 1564 to 1566, 1570 to 1574, and 1646 to 
1678, for which no accounts exist, they are continued up to 1853 
in perfect order. . 

The first entry in 1556 is :— 


“Inpmis the sayd Churchewardeyns do yelde Accompte of the pfytte of the 
Churche Ale thies yere. Above all Chargs  xij', yj*.” 


This seems to have been the principal source of revenue for the 
expenses of the Church at this time. The total expenditure for the 
year was £8 12s. 5d., and the sum of the receipts, £12 4s. 2d. ; the 
other items being sale of seats, 2s. 8d., and Is., given by Edithe 
Brabante to the Church “of devocyion to be prayed for.” 


By T. H. Baker. 269 


Cuurcu ALES. 


The Church ales are continued yearly to 1614, after which there 
is no mention of them. They were suppressed in 1633. 

The presiding officer at Mere was called the “ Cuckowe King,” 
and the vice-chairman the “ Prince.” In 1566 is a note :— 


“Thomas Sheppard Rem’ Cuckowe King this yeare for that he was Prince the 
last yeare According to the Custome. And at this daie John Watts the sonne 
of Thomas Watts is Chosen Prynce for the next yeare.” 


These appointments are noted at the foot of the accounts, together 
with those of the churchwardens and other parish officers, annually 
for many years. 

In vol. ii., p. 194, of this Magazine is an article on “‘ The Church 
Ale,” and it may be advisable to reprint an extract there quoted 
from “ Survey of Cornwall” by Richard Carew, Esq., as the account 
there given of a “Church Ale” appears to accurately describe the 
doings at Mere: — 


“or the ‘Church Ale’ two young men of the parish are yerely chosen by 
their last pregoers to be wardens, who deuiding the task make collections among 
the parishioners of whatsouever prouision it pleaseth them voluntarily to bestow. 
This they imploy in brewing, baking and other achates' against Whitsuntide, 
upon which holydayes the neighbours meet at the church-house and there meetly 
feed on their owne victuals, contributing some petty portion to the stock which 
by many smalls groweth to a meetly greatness, for there is entertayned a kind 
of emulation betweene these wardens, who by his graciousness in gathering and 
good husbandry in expending can best aduance the churches profit. Besides the 
neighbour parishes at those times louingly visit one another and this way frankely 
spend their money together. The afternoones are consumed in such exercises as 
olde and yonge folke (hauing leysure) doe accustomally weare out the time 
 withall. 

“ When the feast is ended the wardens yeeld in their account to the parishioners 
and such money as exceedeth the disbursments is layd up in store to defray any 
extraordinary charges arising in the parish or imposed on them for the good of 
the countrey or the Prince’s service, neither of which commonly gripe so much 
but that somewhat stil remayneth to cover the purse’s bottome.” 


The entries relating to the Church ales are :— 


1556. Itm payed to Robert Cowherd for the Redemynge of 
certeyne sylv’ Spones of the Church stock / which he had 
in gage by the delyu’ of the Churchwardeyns for xl’. of 
money borowed of hym to thuse of the Churche. x 


1 Z.e., provisions. 
VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVIII. ; U 


270 Notes on the History of Mere. 
©1559. Itm for the hyre of certeyn pewter vessell at the Church 
ale / and for one platter w°® was lost there 
“Ttm for bryngyng home of the greate Crocke of the 
parishe from Gillyngham to Mere 
“1562. Itm for a Cote for the vyse or ffole! at the Churcheale 
“1565. Item for the Cuckowe lord’s expenses 
“Ttem for Tynnen spoones and trenchers and potts bought 
to thuse of the Church 
“Ttem for gunpowder spent at the King riding 
Item for the hyre of too Dozen vessells at the Church Ale 
Item for two Dosen of spoones 
“Ttem paied to Michaell Lanyng the Cuckow prince 
“Ttem allowed to Randoll Coward being Cuckow King 
towards his expenses in that office 
“1577. Item for v cruses for the Church ale 
“Ttem for other cuppes 
“1579. Item paied for bread and drink to make the Sumer Lord 
of Gillingham Drink 
©1589. Item in bread and beere on Trynitie sunday to make the 
Company drink that came from Gyllingham 
“1595. There was this yeare neither Church ale nor collection 
for the repicon of the Church 
1596. Item to make the Lord of Gillingham and his Company 
drink 
©1598. Item for bread and drink to make the Lord of Gillingham 
drink 
“1621. Itm for Cakes and beere on Whitmunday to entertayne 
the lordes of Gillingham 


* 1569. 
1575. 


xx?,”’ 

a om 

Li} Neos 
Vise 
vij’.” 

xvji.” 

viij?.” 

CV ee 
inne 
ih pose 

Vee 

viij’.” 

ey CV 

ESA y 

nothing” 

if’) Vitae 


see sane 7 
ij’. itij’ 


Wo. Vien 


The last entries confirm the statement of Mr. Carew as to the 


custom of neighbouring parishes visiting each other. 


The Gilling- 


ham people paid an annual visit to Mere, and it appears were 


hospitably entertained. 


Other entries in the churchwardens’ book are valuable and in- 
teresting, exemplifiying the customs of bygone days, but space will 


only permit a few examples to be given here. 
The Holy Loaf.2 The first entry is in 1568 :— 


“Ttem for money receyved for the holy lofe for this yeare after the rate of iij*. 
for ev’ry sunday over and besides iij’. allowed to the Bedman for Easter Day 


yearly xij*. iij*.” 


This entry is continued year by year, and the sum of xij* ix.* 


1 j,e., the Vice or Fool; the Vice was the buffoon of the early dramas. 


2 See Appendia A. 


By T. H. Baker. 271 


received by the churchwardens till 1591, when the “holy loaf” 
gives place to communion bread, and is continued as such till 1598. 
The last entry is :— 


“Ttem they charge themselves with xij’. ix’. for the rent of the Communion 
bread for the same yeare.” 


1556. Itm payed for Smoke fferthynges to Rome ' xin.” 
1559. Itm payed to the Clerke for his labo" for makynge of the 

billes of the nombre of the people, by the quenes comysson xij” 

*Ttm payed for Smoke fferthynges > 5 Shi 

1562. Itm payed to the Bysshop for smoke fferthyngs vj> 7%: ob.” ? 
“Ttm for a Queyre of paper to make a boke for the Church 

of Crystenyngs, maryeing and buryeng ijt.” 


1561. Itm payed to Richard Beale, Alias ffyssher the Clerke of 
the markette at Hyndon, for a Rewarde or brybe, which he 


extorted of the parishe, by colo" of his office xxs. 7? 
“1562. Itm payed to Clerke of the markett 

at for a brybe or Rewarde, not to trouble 

the parishe, by reason or colo" of his office xx5.”? 


*1563. Itm payed to Thomas Aubrey gent, by the Consent and 
appoyntement of the hole parishe, for his Charges and Expenses 
at london, to sewe for the Renewinge of the Charter of the 


libtyes of the man’ of mere Vijli-xijs-viijd-” 

1565. Item for the Smoke farthings vj® j4 ob.” 
“1569. Item paied at Sarw’ for y* making of a bill when we did 

appeare for Chauntry land iijd-” 

“Ttem paied for singing bread iijd-” 

“Ttem paied for synging bread xxd.” 


“1574. Item paied to one Powell, Deputy to Henry Wilcoks 
Clarke of the Markett for his reward sitting at Meere, the 
Queene being at Hatchbury in the moneth of August last past 


w'in y° verge acts 
“1578. Item paied to Mr. Willm. Drewe the Clerke of the 

Assizes for allowing of the Charter of the libties of Meere vs 
“1581. Item for two prayer bookes sent by the Ordynarie to the 

Church for the Earthquake viija.” 


1585. It is further ordered at this Daie that noe man shall have anie knell 
ringed for anie man except they pay first to the Churchwardens for every 
bell that they will have ringed vj4. 

“Tt is alsoe ordered at this day. That noe proctor nor any pson w'® 
lycense shall gather any money in the Church win the tyme of Dyvine 
service, nor at any time else win this pish. But all proctors and such as 
have lycense shall repaire to the Churchwardens. And they the said wardens 
calling to them two or three of the substanciall Inhabitants shall gyve their 


1 See Appendix B. 
2“ ob” is found in old accounts to represent a halfpenny (obolws) ; a farthing 
is represented by q. 


u 2 


272 Notes on the History of Mere. 


charitable Devosion, according to their Discrecon, And they entering into 
their booke of allowancs the day of the moneth, the some gyven and the 
name of the ptie to whome it shalbe given, the said somes shalbe allowed to 
the said Churchwardens yearelie uppon their accompts.” 


1585. Item laied out to the Clark of the m’kett viijs:” 
“1586. Item paied to Symon Crouch for a shurt to whip the 
Rogues iijs-” 


©1589. Paid by them for a Cli and half a li of gunpowder by 

them bought and at this daie remayning in their hands —_vj*. 19°.” 
“1590. Item to the Clark of the Markett at Hyndon way. 
©1596. They are alsoe to be charged w* 1°. as soe much money 

by them receyved for the said Barrell of gunpowder and w™ 

before this tyme remayned as a stock at vi" iiij*, as above 


appeareth L*,” 
“Ttem to Mr. Edward Chafyn for the Clarke of the Markett viij4.” 
“1599. Item paied to the Clarke of the markett ARs), VAIS 


A curious agreement is here entered :— 
“The xiiijth daie of Deceber 1615. “ 

“Md. It was agreed between John Rogers als Ball & John fforward the 
younger of Woodland Church Wardens of Meere, & Dewby Deane of Lackcok 
in the Countye of Willtes, Plumber, that he the sayde Dewby Deane did 
undertake wth the sayde Churchwardens that he the sayde Dewby Deane or his 


assignes would at all tymes dewringe his naturall lyfe sufficientlye repayer at his — 


own ppr. Cost & Charges all the leades uppon the tope of the tower & the leads 
w*" he did Cast uppon the northe Porch. In Consyderacon whereof the sayde 
Church Wardens did gyve to the sayde Dewby Deane xij% of lawfull Englyshe 
monye, pvided allwayes that if the sayde leades wer hurt by any casuall meanes 
that then the same to be amended at the Charge of the pishe. In wittnes 
whereof I the sayde Dewby Deane have hereunto sett my hand the day and 
yere above sayde. 
Witnesses hereunto, Dusy Drang. 

Tho. Chafyn and 

Willm Jemver 

Sigh + Willi 


Jemver.” 


In 1623 is an entry of national interest :— 
“To Contucino Palrologo } at two severall collections iij*.” 


1 This should be Contarini Paleologus. The Palzologus family reigned as 
Emperors of the East from 1260 to 1453. 


In Notes and Queries (7th S., ix., 488), is a query, which says :—“ In a letter 
dated October 16th, 1622, written by Theophilus Aylmer, son of the Bishop of — 


London, to Dr. Owen Gwynn, Master of St. John’s College, Cambridge (the 


original of which is in the muniment room of the college), there occurs the — 
following passage:—“Interest in you . . . let me now finde in yr help to — 
be afforded toward this Nobleman Contarin’ Paleologus ; of whose worth you 


By T. H. Baker. 273 


_ We have seen above that the gunpowder in the custody of the 
churchwardens, which was purchased in 1589, when the country 
was threatened with a Spanish invasion, was sold in 1596, when 
the scare was over, but it was renewed, for in 1620 is another 
entry :— 


“And ytt is alsoe ordered that the Gunpowder remaynenge nowe in the 
Churche for the hundred of Mere shalbe soulde bye the Churche Wardens to the 
souldiers of the trayned Bande att xij‘. the pounde, the money thereof comenge 
to remayne in the Churche Wardens hands to p’vide other powder hereafter.” 


In 1626 is an entry of another character amongst the disburse- 
ments :— 


“To a stranger that preached heare, vj*.” 
And again in 1627 :— 
“To a preacher the xxviij of May, iij*.’’ 


And in 1630 :— 
“To a Preacher that preatched heare iijs.”’ 


shall receave testimonyes many & worthy, beyond all exceptione, O' Kinge 
highly favoreth him; & hath granted him much grace and this one in particular, 
to make Collections in o" University. Now for as muche as the particular help 
of men in y* place shall much advance the reliefe of this worthy man (the 
Kinge’s most royall intente) I most earnestly . . . intreat you, to sett 
forward this worthy worke in y* famous Colledge that this distressed nobleman, 
finding that we who live in peace, have a true feelinge of his afflictione may 
glorify God & geve a worthy testimony of O' Universitie & the whole Kingdome, 
&e.” No very definite information was elicited by this as to who Contarini was, 
_ though from the above it appears that collections for him must have been general 
throughout England. The Strife of the Roses, by W. H. Hamilton Rogers, 
has a good article on the family, but no mention is made of this particular 
member of it. Du Cange (Hist. Byzant., p. 255, ed. 1680), mentions their 

connection with Venice, and the Editor of Notes and Queries states that a 
_ family named Palzologue has for some centuries been settled in Roumania. A 
branch of the family settled at Landulph, in Cornwall, in which Church is a brass 
inscribed : “ Here lyeth the Body of Theodoro Paleologus of Pesaro in Italye : 
descended from ye Imperyail lyne of ye last Christian Emperors'of Greece, being 
the sonne of Camilio, ye sone of Prosper, the sonne of Theodoro, the sonne of 
John, ye sonne of Thomas second brother to Constantine Paleologus the 8th of 
‘that name and last of ye line yt raygned in Constantinople, untill subdued by 
the Turkes ; who married with Mary ye daughter of William Balls of Hadlye in 
Souffolke Gent and had issue 5 children Theodoro, John, Ferdinando, Maria, 
and Dorothy, and departed this life at Clyfton, ye 5th of January, 1636.” 


274 Notes on the History of Mere. 


The payments to the ‘“‘ Clarke of the Markett ”’ are still continued 
of varying amounts; this year (1627) it is x*, but there is no 
record showing who this official was or what his duties were. The 
payments to soldiers, poor Irish folk, and others who travelled with 
passes, for many years about this time are too numerous to give 
here, but they are full of interest as bearing on byegone customs. 

1636. In an inventory amongst other things is included :— 


“One barrell of Gunpowder Vases ii. c. weighte and more of Gunpowder of 


seers 99 


1674. Item gave the officer who Collected the ffire hearth money" m 
for signeinge a Certificate to excuse the poore people from payinge 00, 01, 00” 


At this period is given a list of briefs collected in the parish for 
various sufferers (principally for losses by fire). They are annually 
recorded up to 1707, when they cease. 


TERRIER OF CHuRcH Lanns, &c., e’rea 1640. 


(Copied by T. H. B., 1890, from a document written on paper in the Muniment 
Room of Salisbury Cathedral. The values printed in italics are interlineations 
in a later hand.) 


“VALUATION OF LANDS AT MEER. 


“One Cottage in Rooke street in Meere with A Garden, Orchard, and Two 
Acres of Meadow in the Tenure of Johnathan Bowles. the yearly is 6 a yeare. 

**One Close of Meadowe, and A Close of pasture in the Tything of Woodlands 
in Rook street aforesaid in the Tenure of Woolstan ffoster. the yearly valy is 
8" a yeare. 

“One Cottage in Church Street, with A Garden and Outhouse neere adjoyning 
in the possession of the sayd Woolstone ffoster. 

“One Cottage in Castle Street and one plott of meadow in the tenure of the — 
Widdow Burt. : 

“One other Cottage in A Street called Church Street with outhowsing and an ~ 
Orchard thereunto adjoyning and 4 Acres of Arrable Land in the Comon feilds 
of Meere in the tenure of William Crompe. the yearly valy is 5" a yeare. 

“One Cottage or tenement called Blackhouse and fiveteen Acres of Land, — 
Meadow and pasture. the yearly valy is 144 a yeare. ; 


1 Fire-hearth money was a duty payable to the crown on houses. By Statute — 
14, Car. II., cap. 2, Every fire hearth and stove of every dwelling and other — 
house within England and Wales (except such as pay not to Church and poor) — 
shall be chargeable with 2s. per annum payable at Michaelmas and Lady Day to — 
the King and his Heirs and Successors, which payment was called Chimney 
money. This tax, being much complained of as burdensome to the people, was — 
taken off and that of windows imposed in its stead, 7 and 8 W. III. 


By T. H. Baker. 275 


“(ne Tenement with A Garden & Curtiladge thereunto belonging and a little 
platt of Ground called Shitbrooke adjoyning to A parcell of Ground called Deane’s 
Orchard with half an Acre in the Comon feilds of Meere, in the Tenure of 
Christopher Philipps, & is known by the name of the George Inne in Meere. 

“One other parcell of Meadow lying also neere unto Deane’s Orchard called 
Shitbrooke in the tenure of Woolstan Illing. 

“ One Cottage and A Garden in the tenure of John Stacy. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the tenure of Christopher Smart. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the tenure of Dorothy Cable widdow. the 
yearly valy is 2" a yeare. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the Tenure of William Harding. the yearly 
 valy is 1" a yeare. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the Tenure of Richard Cliffe. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the Tenure of Henry Ball. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the Tenure of James Westley. the yearly 
— valy is 2" a yeare. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the Tenure of Moses Wilkins. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the Tenure of James ffryth. 

“One Cottage and A Garden in the Tenure of John Barfeild. the yearly 
valy is 1" a yeare. 

“One Cottage, Garden and Curtiladge in the Tenure of Woolstan Illing. the 
yearly valy is 3" a yeare. 

“One Cottage and Garden in the Tenure of James Willis. 

“One Cottage and Garden in the Tenure of Edward Cruce. the yearly valy 
is l"@ yeare. 

“One Cottage and Garden in the Tenure of Margery Powell widdow. the 
yearly valy is 2 a yeare. 

“One Cottage and Garden in the Tenure of Robert pointing. the yearly 
valy is 1" 10° a yeare. 

“One Cottage and Garden in the Tenure of William Bateman. 

“There is also a certain plot of Ground whereon certeyn Cottages are built, 
he values of which you may judge off by the Rates that are given for adjoyning 
Houses. 

“T would have you enquire whither Mr. Chafyn hath not other Houses in 
Meere that belongs to the Deane, if so, then write down the Tennants’ names, 
and what yearly Rents they pay for them. 

_“ Be very diligent to learn the true value of the parsonadge, that is what the 
lythes of All the Corn and Graine within the parish of Meere is worth by the 
y the passonadge have been lett for 12 scur pounds as I have bine 
Informed. 

_ “Also there is belonging to the parsonadge, the Tythe Hay of all the Comon 
Meadowes within the sayd parish of Meere; In liewe whereof there is Allotted 


‘Enquire what these Acres are yearly worth, and whither Mr. Chafyn hath 
not more Acres in this Meadow which is allowed him for Tythe belonging to the 
parsonadge, if not in that whither in no other Meadowe. 

_ “ Enquire also what the Tythe Hay is worth in Mear Meade, Hurdles’ Hearne, 


276 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Southbrooke and Whatley, and of other small parrocks} and parcells within the 
sayd parish, and of One Aere of Meadow belonging to the parson. 

“There is also due and payable by the Inhabitants of the parish of Meere to 
the parsonadge of the sayd parish in respect of theire Inclosed Grounds upon the 
first day of August yearly for certeyn Tythes called Lamas Tythes. Enquire 
how much money is payd. Also learn what the Tythe Wood is worth within the 
parish of Meere, one yeare with another. 

“Also how many Acres of Land lying in one parcell in A furlong called 
Brimley furlong in the Comon feilds of Meere, Mr. Chafyn holdeth, & is called 
the Glebe land belonging to the parsonadge, and whither there be no more land 
in that furlong belonging to the sayd parsonadge. 

“Also how many Acres there in the Tenure of Mr. Chafyn in the Comon 
feilds of Meere in certeyn places there called Wetlands & Deane’s Hill. 

“Also how many Acres Mr, Chafyn holdeth in the Comon feilds in a place 
called Wescombe. 

“Also how many Acres of Arrable in the Common feilds in a place called 
Southbrook. 

“Also how many Acres of Arrable Land lying dispersedly in the Comon 
feilds between Mere and Burton. 

“Also how many Acres of Arrable Land lying dispersedly in the Comon 
feilds in a place called Widnam. 

“Also how many Acres of Meadow Mr. Chafyn holdeth lying in severall 
parcells in A place called Hurdle’s Hearne. 

“Enquire also what Tythes, profitts or other Estate Mr. Chafyn hath or 
holdeth in the parish of Kingston Deverell being part of, or belonging to the 
parsonadge of Meere, and what the true yearly value thereof is. the yearly 
valy is 5° a yeare. 

“Keep this paper safe, untill you have found out the true worth of the 
several estates here mentioned, and then be so kind as to return it againe 
to me with the yearly value thereof; and if you can by any meanes discover 
any other Estates within the parishes of Meere and Kingston Deverell be- 
longing to the Reverend the Deane of —— take particulars of them with 
the names of those who enjoys them and let me have knowledge of them.” 


DEAN’s VISITATION. 


Mere being a “ Dean’s peculiar,” an annual visitation was made 
here by the Dean, when he was entertained, together with the 
churchwardens, sidesmen, &c., at the cost of the parish. This 
began in a modest way, but eventually grew into a lavish ex- 
penditure. In 1829 the visitation dinner is charged £21 17s. 6d., 
but the general amount was about £15. It decreased after this, 
and the last charge is in 1842, when it cost £5 3s. 8d. 


1 7.e., paddocks, always “ parrocks ’”’ hereabouts. 


By T. H. Baker. 277 


CHURCHYARD INSCRIPTIONS. 


In the churchyard are many quaint epitaphs and interesting 
inscriptions in memory of families now extinct. One must be 
mentioned :— 


“In Memory of Edmond 
Dolling who Dyed of y* 
Small Pox which he 
designedly took Sept. 6 
1737. Aged 21 years. 
Stop Passenger my Fate deplore 
Take warning by my Toomb 
And never like me temp y® Lord 
Least thou shouldst have my Doom.” 


Another stone on which are recorded the names of several mem- 
bers of a family named Suter, with dates from 1729 to 1806, has 
underneath the following lines :-— 


“Tike Birds of a feather 
We sleep here together.” 


The following paragraph, extracted from the Salisbury and 
Winchester Journal, August 25th, 1828, is of special interest, and 
records an incident which is now quite forgotten, and would have 

been lost had it not been noted at that time. 


Cuarzes II. 


“On Sunday last the town and vicinity of Mere experienced a great treat by 
‘several merry peals from the Church bells, in consequence of the arrival, on the 
Friday previous of a new bell cast by Mr. Kingstone, bell founder of Bridgwater ; 
and it is confidently hoped that under the superintendence of Mr. Hayter, 
_ organist, Mere will revive in the art of bell ringing, for which they were for- 
merly so famous. One of the bells bears the date of 1670, and it is generally 
supposed to have been presented to the inhabitants on the restoration of 
_ Charles II. for their loyalty to their lawful, much beloved, though unfortunate 
Sovereign, who concealed himself about this part of the country, and frequently 
honored Mere with his royal presence, though then deprived of its externals.”’ 


4 


Whatever the truth may be as to the gift of the bell (of which 
no record exists in the parish), it is certain that Charles II. visited 
Mere in 1651, in his journey from Trent to Heale House, after the 


278 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Battle of Worcester. In ‘“ Baker's Chronicles”’ the incident is thus 
narrated :— 


“ The King in his way to Salisbury (from Colonel Wyndham’s at Trent) came 
to a Town called Mere to the George, an acquaintance of the Colonels, where 
drinking in the Cellar, the Host seeing the King stand off as a servant, said, 
‘Thou lookest like an honest Fellow, Here’s a Health to the King’ ; who unreadily 
answering it made the man expostulate with the Colonel what Fellow he had 
brought. The King from Mere went to the House of Mrs. Hide and was 
joyfully there received, and introduced to a secret place in the House and here 
Colonel Robert Phillips came to him and Col. Windham took his leave of his 
Majestie and returned.” 


The landlord of the George at this time was Christopher Phillips. 
In a History of England, by Gawrence Kchard, Archdeacon of 
Stowe, the story takes this form :— 


“The Travellers about Noon arrived at Mere, a little Market Town in 
Wiltshire, and dined at the George Inn, the Keeper of which was known by the 
Colonel to be faithful. He sat at the Table with the King, and discoursing with 
the Colonel told him the News. ‘That he heard the Men of Westminster, not- 
withstanding their Victory at Worcester, were in a great Maze not knowing 
what had become of the King; but the most received opinion was, that he was 
come in Disguise to London, and many Houses had been searched for him there,’ 
at which his Majesty was observed to smile. After Dinner he familiarly asked 
the King, ‘If he were a friend to Cesar?’ to which bis Majesty answering ‘ Yes,’ 
then said he, ‘ Here is a Health to King Charles’ in a Glass of Wine ; which 
his Majesty and the Colonel both pledged ; and so taking Horse, at Night they 


arrived at Hele.” 


The principal inhabitants seem to have been loyal to the Royal 
cause. The Vicar, Dr. Chafyn, was shamefully treated by the 
Cromwellian soldiers. Walker, in his “ Sufferings of the Clergy,” 
says -— 

“This worthy Dr. was by the Oliverian Soldiers dragged out of his House 


and barbarously Abused by one of the soldiers; who kick’d him in the Privy 
members, and afterward forced him to Mount on a poor Galled Horse's Back 


without Saddle; and so in that disgraceful manner they carried him to Fisherton’ 


Prison, where he continued some few weeks ; but finding him to grow Weaker, 
they sent him home; where, after a few days, he died with the Anguish of the 
aforesaid Grief; Plundering his House and Stable of all his Goods and Horses ; 
leaving his Relict and Family in a Forlorn and Mean Condition.” 


This happened in 1645. 
The same year Mr. Richard Green, of Mere, for his delinquency, 


ee oe ee 


StS He see 


By T. H. Baker. 279 


compounds for £130. He hath already subscribed £20. He held 
correspondence with the King’s party, as appears by his own con- 
fession. 

1646, Thomas Bannister, of Mere, paid £20. He with his son 
Jasper, rents Mere Park, belonging to Lord Arundell, besides 
paying thirds to Lady Arundell. (lalstone Day Book, Wilts 

_ Arch, Maq., xxvi., 352.) 

1650, Hartgild! Baron, of Mere, gentleman, adhered to the forces 
raised against the Parliament, for which his delinquency he humbly 
prays permission to compound ; fine, £1 13s. 4¢. This gentleman’s 
losses in the Royal cause appear to have been amply made up to 
him. As the agent in “hazardous secret service” he actually got 
a promise from Charles II., when at Breda, for a pension of £200 

a year for thirty-one years, which was duly ratified some time after 
the King’s return, about 1662. At the same time he also acquired 
the office of Steward of the Court of Record in Windsor Castle and 
the reversion (after John Hill) af that of ranger and bailiff of 
Battle’s Walk, Windsor. He was the first to announce (so it is 

_ stated in one of his petitions) to the exiled Court at Breda the 
determination of the Parliament of England to declare for a 
restoration (Wilts Arch. Mag., xxiii., 326). 


Frre. 


Shortly after this period Mere seems to have suffered severely 
from a fire, but, strange to say, there is no tradition extant relating 
to it, and as no churchwardens’ accounts exist for some few years 
at this time, no information can be gathered from those valuable 
historical documents, but from entries in other parochial registers 
we find confirmatory evidence of the occurrence. 

In the parish register of Stanton Prior, Co. Somerset, is an entry : 

“For Meere in Wiltshire burnt &e. A brief was published Aug. 13th, 1671. 
Collected 1s. 6d. Wm. Richmond, John Brookman, Churchwardens.” 
In the register of Tudeley cum Capel, Kent :— 
“1671. Mear Wiltshire 1s. 7d.” 


1 His own mode of spelling his Christian name, though only a variety of 
perteill, the name of the victims of the Stourton tragedy. 


280 Notes on the History of Mere. 
In East Wellow :— 
“1671. May 14. Collected for y* towne of Mere in y* County of Wilts 2s. 1d.” 


1671. In Stanton St. John :— 
“ Collected for Meere, in Wilts 3s. 2d.” 


1671, January 18th. In St. Margaret’s, Westminster, is an 
entry :— 


“Towards the great loss by fyre in the towne of in our County of 


Wilts £2 12.” 

Now, as the name of the town is not given, this may not be 
Mere; but as there is no evidence of any other town in Wiltshire 
suffering by fire in that year the probability is that Mere is 
intended, and January, 1671, is 1672 according to our modern 
mode of reckoning. 


North Luffenham, Co. Rutland! :— 


“1671. Oct. Collected upon y® Brief for y° fire at Meere in Wiltshire the 
sum of eight shillings sixpence & as was appointed sent to the High Constable 
by y* Constables of o* town.” 


Tue Vicars oF Merx.? 


Mere having been under the Peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean, 
and no institutions from him being in existence before the year 
1548, a complete succession of Vicars can only be given since that 
time. 
A.D. 1300 Roger the Clerk is mentioned by Sir R. C. Hoare. 

1331 Walter vicar ecclie de Mere (Pedes Finium, H. of 
Warminster). 
1374 Richard Bisschop, Vicar of Mere (Records of Stavor- 
dale Priory). 
1405 Nicholas Modeford. 
John Swinnerton. 


1Brom Wiltshire Notes and Queries, No. 17, p. 237. 
2 The following notices of Vicars and natives of Mere have appeared for the 
most part from time to time in the Mere Parish Magazine. 


Y 


By T. H. Baker. 281 


1554 John Roberts, appointed on the death of Swinnerton. 

1556 Richard Chafyn. 

1586 Richard Potter, on the death of Chafyn. 

1630 Thomas Chafyn, D.D. 

1646 William Bayly. 

1691 Edward Garrard, on the death of Bayly. 

1695 John Hardcastle, on the death of Garrard. 

1734 Caleb Perfect, on the death of Hardcastle. 

1744 Thomas Staples. 

1775 Charles Wager Allix. 

1796 Lancelot Greenthwart Holton 

1802 Thomas Grove, on the resignation of Holton. 

1809 William Hopkins, on the death of Grove. 

1812 Henry Wake, on the resignation of Hopkins. 

1845 Thomas Blundell. 

1861 Charles Henry Townsend, on the death of Blundell. 

1881 Kdwin George Wyld, on the resignation of Townsend. 
- 1890 John Augustus Lloyd, on the cession of Wyld. 


But little is known of the majority of the above. We find that 
Richard Bisschop was a benefactor of the Priory of Stavordale, and 
that the canons of that establishment were bound 

“To celebrate Mass daily in the chapel, at the High Altar in the Lady Chapel, 
at the altar of SS. Peter and Paul, and at that of 8. James under the Campanile, 
for the souls of Queen Philippa (of Hainault, wife of Edward III.), the Bishop 
and his parents, John de Stourton, his parents and kin, the founders, i.e., the 


Lovell family, Richard Bisschop, Vicar of the Parish Church of Mere, in the 
Sarum Diocese, and other benefactors of the Priory.” 


Ricuarp Porter. 


Nothing is known of the succeeding Vicars till 1586, when we 
find that the Rev. Richard Potter, B.D., of Trin. Coll. was 
instituted. He was afterwards Prebendary of Worcester. He 
was father of the Rev. Francis Potter. See below. 

Query :—Did he hold the two livings of Mere and Kilmington at 
the same time? he was certainly Vicar of Mere till his death. In 

the churchwardens’ book is the following entry :— 


282 Notes on the History of Mere. 


“The Second accompt of the said James Lucas, and Moses Wilkins, Church- 
wardens there for one whole yeare then ended the xxixth Daie of March 1630. 
In w*". yeare the said Churchwardens were appointed Sequestrators of the Tithes 
and pflits of the Vicaridge of Meere aforesaid by the Right Wor!’ Edmund 
Mason then Deane of Sarum uppon the Death of Richard Potter, Batchelor in 
Devinitie and late Vicar of Meere aforesaid, whoe died about the ffeast of St. 
John Baptist 1629, and Thomas Chafin, Doctor in Devinitie was vicar in his 
place.” 


Dr. Tuomas CHAaFyn 


was Vicar from 1630 to 1646,! when he succumbed to the treatment 
he experienced from the Parliamentarian soldiers, as before related. 
Walker, in his “ Sufferings of the Clergy,” also states that he was 
Prebendary of Durnford, and further says :— 

“Where this reverend person was born, or in what university he had his 
education I am not informed ; but bearing the name of an ancient family in the 
neighbouring county of Dorset it seems probable that he might be related to it, 
especially as I find he was a man of such note as to be in the Commission of 
Peace. One Dr. Chaffin was, soon after the breaking out of the Rebellion sent 


for by the House of Commons as a delinquent. I take him to have been the 
same person with this Dr. Chaffin.” 


The following entry in Rushworth’s Collection confirms this 
supposition :— 

“Mere. Dr. Chafyn was brought to the bar for certain words delivered at a 
visitation sermon at Salisbury &c. Anno 1640.” 

In the Mere Churchwarden’s book for 1636 is this entry :— 

“To the Ringers when M* Dockter Chafin went through the Towne on 


p cession 123,” 


He appears to have been an energetic man; during his ncumbency 
the Church was paved, the south aisle re-leaded, the tower loft 


repaired, the churchyard walls restored, the Church new-pewed, ~ 


and various other works carried out. Also two charities which had 
been withheld some years were appropriated to their proper use. 


1 Dr. Chafin was also Rector of Fovant, Wilts. 
2 Thomas, son of William Chafin, of Zeals, was baptised 1595. 


By T. H. Baker. 285 


Wintiam Baytry, 


who succeeded Thomas Chafyn, D.D., in 1645, is the first Vicar to 

whom a monumental inscription exists in the Church. His inscribed 

stone is almost illegible. It has been removed from the west end 

of the north aisle to the tower (1896). Whether the former was 

its original position is doubtful, as many memorials were moved in 
_ the restoration, A.D. 1856. 

Sir R. C. Hoare puts the date of his induction 1661, but from 
the inscription we gather he was Vicar forty-six years, and, as his 
death took place 1691, this brings us back to 1645, the date of Dr. 
Chafyn’s death. Therefore he must have been his immediate 
successor, but in consequence of the troublous times probably he 
was not formally inducted till after the restoration, 1660.! 

The following is all that is legible on his tombstone :— 


DEPOSITUM BAYLY 
VICARII MVN TI IN 
ECCLESIA MERA ANNos 46 
QUI OBIIT NON EMBRIS 
ANNO DOM I 


Epwarp GARRARD. 


Edward Garrard, who succeeded William Bayly as Vicar of Mere, 
is buried in the chancel. 


On a gravestone underneath the communion table is the following 
inscription :— 


Mr. Malden writes from the Diocesan Registry as follows :—‘ William 

Bayly, B.A., was not apparently Vicar of Mere before 1661. On the 11th 
November, 1661, he subscribed to the articles, &c., describing himself, in his 
own handwriting, as ‘admittendus et instituendus vicarius perpetuus vicarie 
perpetuze ecclesiz parochialis de Meere,’ and he was instituted the same day. 
He spells his name Bayly, the institution register calls him Baily. The records 
of 1645 are scanty, and there are none relating to Mere about that time.” 
That William Bayly lived at Mere during all the time of the Commonwealth 
is certain, as the registers contain entries of the baptisms of his children in 1647, 
1649, 1650, 1656, 1660, and he is described as “then minister of Mere,” except 
1650, when he is styled “ minister and vicar of Meere.” 


284 Notes on the History of Mere. 


“H.§, E. Edoardus Garrard, Edoardi Garrard 
de Novo Sarum in com. Wilts, armigeri 
filius natu maximus 
In academia Oxon A. M. 
ecclesie hujus verus (sub Xto) pastor 
cujus vocem errabunde hic loci oves 
agnoscentes illico redierunt 
Adverse diu valetudinis ponderibus 
oppressus 
altius surrexit altiusque usque in celum 
terris valedixit 
Martii 
die 3tio anno nativitatis Dom’i 169! sue 3!” 


In the south aisle of the choir of Salisbury Cathedral are the 
gravestones of his father, mother, and step-mother, with inscriptions 
in Latin, of which we give the translations :— 


No. 1. “Here was buried, Edward Garrard, of the city of New Sarum, 
gentleman, of the family of Baronets, of that Name, in Co. Herts, who married 
the two beloved wives, lying on each hand of him. 

“Satiated with the riches of this deceitful world, he rests here expecting the 
Treasures of Heaven. He died 5 March, 1712, aged 73.” 


No. 2. “Here was buried, Elizabeth Garrard, wife of Edward Garrard, of 
this City, Gent., and daughter of Thomas Gardiner, of the same, Gent., whom, 
being consumed by wasting disease, which no medicine could reach, Death 
snatched away from her sufferings, to eternal salvation, July 20, 1680.” 


No. 3. Here was buried, Florentia Garrard, second wife of Edward Garrard, 
of this city, Esq., and daughter of Thomas Bennet, of Norton, in this county, 
Esq. Her soul, pious among the first, at length freed from a body exhausted 
with pain, flew to eternal salvation, 12 Aug., 1705, aged 67.” 


Other inscriptions, to members of this family, are in St. Thomas’s 
Church, Salisbury. 


JoHN HarpcAsTLE 
held the benefice from 1695 to 1734. His burial is recorded in the — 
parish register :— 

* August y® 13th, 1734, Mr. John Hardcastle, Vicar, was buried.” 


There is no memorial to mark the place of his interment. The 
south aisle of the Church, which had become in a ruinous state, was — 
restored during his incumbency. Two medallions inserted in the — 


By T. H. Baker. 285 


south wall of the nave record this work, and the following entry is 
in the churchwardens’ book :— 


“Paid to Mr. Stokes who undertook the south side of o' parish church to 
secure it being likely to fall, and took it downe and raised it up again for 
y® sum of £124 0 0.” 

He came from Yorkshire, and married Dorothy, daughter of 
Mrs. Bishop, who lived in the manor house at Burton, which had 
previously been occupied by Christopher Aubrey. Mrs. Bishop 
died in 1711. He owned Burton Farm and Knoll, the latter 
probably as copyholder under the Duchy, besides other property 
in the town. His wife pre-deceased him, and by his will (dated 
1730) he gave all his property to a distant relative, Elizabeth 
Farrer, who by her will (dated 1753) bequeathed all her property 
to Thomas Ellis, shopkeeper of Mere, and a cousin, John Farrer, 
of London, to the exclusion of her nearer relatives. John Farrer 
soon became bankrupt, and the property was dispersed. 

John Hardcastle is believed to have been a near relative of the 
Rey. Thomas Hardcastle, of Yorkshire, who left the Church in 
1666, and became the minister of a Baptist community in Bristol. 
He suffered imprisonment two or three times for Nonconformity. 


Cates PERFECT, 


who held the living from 1734 to 1744, was brother of Robert 
Perfect, Esq., M.D., who practised as a surgeon and physician at 
Wincanton, and was the son of a gentleman who is said to have 
lost all his money in the South Sea Bubble and subsequently 
emigrated to the United States. Robert Perfect, of Wincanton, 
had a son, William, who practised as M.D. at Bath, and whose son, 
Robert, of Woolston House, Somerset, was J.P. and D.L. of that 
county, and some time M.P. for Lewes, Sussex. There are three 
sons of the last-named Robert Perfect who are beneficed clergymen 
of the Church of England in the present day, one of whom still 
preserves his connection with the county of Somerset as Vicar of 
tanton Drew, and who has kindly furnished the above information. 
The following entry is in the Mere register : — 

“Rev. Caleb Perfect was buried December y® 29th, 1743.” 

VOL. XXIX.—NO, LXXXVIII. x 


Ad 


286 Notes on the History of Meve. 


Tuomas STaPLEs 


sueceeded the Rey. Caleb Perfect in 1744. He was the son of the 
Rev. G. Staples, of Salisbury, where the family had been settled at 
least three hundred years. The vicarage house at Mere was burnt 
either shortly before or immediately after his death, and his widow 
was compelled to re-build it. The date of the old vicarage house 
is thus fixed. He died 1774/5, but as there is no entry of his 
burial in the register probably he was interred at Salisbury, the 
family burying-place. His father was buried at St. Edmund’s in 
that city, and his widow died there also. Mr. Edmund Staples, 
the chemist, at Wilton (1891), is a member of this family. 


CHARLES WacGErR ALLIX 


was Vicar from 1775 to 1795. .He was killed by a fall from his 
horse, tradition says near Norwood. He was buried in the church- 
yard under the south wall of the Church, where is an altar-tomb to 
his memory. It became dilapidated in 1883, when it was put in 
its present form. The inscription on it was then removed. It ran 
thus :— 


“In memory of Rev. Charles Wager Allix, 20 years vicar of this place, who 
died the 30th of November, 1795, aged 47.” 


The following is copied from the Sa/ishury and Winchester Journal, 
7th December, 1795 :— 


“ Monday se’nnight died the Rev. Mr. Allix, Vicar of Mere, Wilts, whose 
loss will be severely felt by the poor of this parish, son of the late Charles 
Allix, Esq., of Swaffham, and a descendant of the famous Dr. Peter Allix, 
who was banished by the old persecuting Church of France in the last century. 
The death of the above gentleman was attended with the following extra- 
ordinary circumstances. He had been out coursing on the Wednesday pre- 
ceding, and on approaching home enquired the hour of his servant; on being 
informed, he remarked that there was time for a short ride before dinner, — 
turned his horse about, took a circuit, and again arrived within about a mile 
of his own house, when the servant observed him to be gradually falling from 
his horse, pointing at the same time-to the ground. The servant rode up in 
time to catch his master in his arms, and laying him on the ground, where 
he had pointed, turned his horse loose, in hopes he would alarm the family — 
and bring him assistance. The horse ran home, but no one knew what road — 
to take, the servant was at length compelled to leave Mr. Allix senseless and — 
speechless on the ground, and ride home for assistance; having run into the 


By T. H. Baker. 287 


house, and briefly related the distressful circumstance, he hastily mounted his 
master’s horse and galloped back; the horse smelt to his master (apparently 
a lifeless corpse), snorted, ran back a few paces, fell on his side, and died in 
less than two hours! Though Mr. Allix languished till the Monday following, 
he neither spoke nor shewed any symptom of sensibility.” 


The same paper for December 14th adds the following :— 


‘We find there were some little inaccuracies in the account of the death of the 
Rev. W. Allix inserted in our last. He was not left alone on theground. After 
the servant had disengaged him from his horse, a gamekeeper who was accidentally 
passing, remaining with Mr. A. whilst the servant went to the house, and the 
horse on which the servant returned (a very valuable one, worth at least seventy 
guineas) was taken from the stable on that occasion, and had not been out the 
whole day; he was not known to have any disorder, but was reported perfectly 
sound and the distance he was then rode was only a single mile, yet on smelling 
to his master he started back, trembled, fell on his side and died instantly (not 
at the distance of two hours time as before-mentioned). Had the poor animal 
been opened, it might have afforded some elucidation of this extraordinary 
circumstance.” 


Tuomas Grove, 


Vicar 1802, was third son of Chafyn Grove, Esq., of Chisenbury, 
and afterwards of Zeals. On the east wall of the Bettesthorne 
Chantry Chapel is a marble tablet to his memory. It is inscribed : 
“Hic jacet, 
Thomas Grove, 
Hujusce Ecclessie nuper Vicarius, 
In Expectatione Diei supremi, 
Qualis erat, Dies iste indicabit, 
Obiit sec*® Die Aprilis A.D. 1809, 
(Etatis sux, 64.” 


His eldest brother was William Chafyn Grove, Esq., of Zeals, 
M.P. for Shaftesbury and Weymouth, who died 1793. 


Henry Wake, 
‘Vicar 1812—1845. He was also Rector of Over Wallop, in 
Hampshire, where he resided, the duty at Mere being left to the 


sole charge of his curates, of whom we give a list. He died at 
Over Wallop, 1851, aged 81. 


_ Iited Thomas, Curate 1815. Nothing is known of him except 
that he was Curate of West Knoyle in 181:. 
4 x 2 


288 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Richard Howell, Curate 1817. 


Rowland Williams Howell, M.A., Curate 1819. Son of the — 
Rey. Richard Howell. He married Mary Beasleay Faugoin, : 
daughter of Mr. Felix Faugoin, of Wolverton, 1st October, 1821, 
and died April, 1822, aged 33. He is buried in the Chancel. On 
a flat stone in the pavement is inscribed :— , 

“The Rev. Rowland Williams Howell, A.M., obt. April 3rd, 1822, Mt. 34. 
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Rev. 14th chap. 13th v. Behold 


therefore I will gather thee unto thy Fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into 
thy Grave in peace. 2 Kings 22nd Chap., 20th v.” 


On the north wall is a marble tablet inscribed :— 


“Sacred to the beloved memory of the Reverend R. W. Howell, A.M., minister 
of this parish, who possessed in an eminent degree every virtue that could adorn 
the Christian and was well qualified to impress both by his life and his doctrine 
the Divine truths of the Gospel: in the full confidence that his pious labours 
would be rewarded in Heaven, he departed this transitory life, and was early 
separated from his afflicted wife and parents the 3rd of April, 1822, in the 34th 
year of his age,” 

“He taught us how to live, and oh! how high 
A price for knowledge! taught us how to die.” 
Mary Beasleay Howell, relict of the Rev. Rowland Howell died November 3rd, 
1876, aged 88 years.” 


In the churchwardens’ book is the following entry :— 


“September 3, 1844, Presented by Mrs. Howell, widow of the late Rev. R. 
W. Howell, thro’ the Rev. T. Blundell, Two Carved Oaken Chairs for the chance] 
of the Parish Church of Mere. The Rev. Thos. Blundell, Minister, Mr. John 
Curtis, Churchwarden.” 


Stephen Hyde Cassan, M.A., F.S.A., Curate 1822—1830. He — 
lost a daughter while at Mere, to whom a marble tablet is erected 


on the south wall of the chancel, inscribed :— 

“Louisa Ursula fourth child of the Rev. Stephen Hyde Cassan, M.A., F.S.A., 
nine years curate of Mere, and now, 1831, vicar of Bruton, by Frances his wife, 
third daughter of the late William Ireland, M.A., vicar of Frome, Died January 
26th, 1829, aged 15 months.” 


On a small white marble tablet inserted in the pavement are the : 
initials L. U. C., doubtless marking the place of her interment. 


He published a Volume of Sermons ; also “ Lives of the Bishops of 
Bath and Wells,” one vol.; “ Lives of the Bishops of Sherborne and 


By T. H. Baker. 289 


Salisbury,” one vol. ; and “ Lives of the Bishops of Winchester,” two 
vols. He was chaplain to the Earl of Caledon, and Curate of Frome 
before coming to Mere. 


Reyner Cosens, Curate 1831—1833. 


William Dyer, Curate 1834—1835. He was afterwards Per- 
 petual Curate of Imber. 


Tuomas BLUNDELL 


succeeded the Rev. William Dyer as Curate here till 1845, when 
the Rev. Henry Wake resigned the living and he was his successor 
in the vicarage. He became infirm and left Mere 1858, died at 
Brighton, 1861, and was buried at Zeals. He had been a Baptist 
minister. The Rev. W. A Voss was appointed Curate in sole 
charge after Mr. Blundell left Mere. The Parish Church was 
restored in 1856. The Church at Zeals and the Mere National 
Schools were built during Mr. Blundell’s incumbency. A monu- 
ment to his memory was erected in the chancel of Mere Church, 
1890, with the following inscription :— 

“In memory of the Rev. Thomas Blundell, who was for 25 years Curate and 
Vicar of this Parish, He died August 12, 1861, aged 75. Also of Charlotte, 
wife of the above, who died, February 28, 1855. ‘The Memory of the Just is 


blessed.” Proverbs x.7. This Tablet is erected by their grandson, Martin Petrie 
Blundell, of Melbourne, Australia.” 


The Assistant-Curates during Mr. Blundell’s incumbency were :— 
Heron. 
1856—9. Francis Tripp. 
1859. Robert Canning Stiles, Vicar of Froxfield, 1880—1896. 
Died 1896. 
1859. O’Donnell and Poer. 
1860. John Phelps, M.A., previously Rector of Little Lang- 
ford, and afterwards Vicar of Hatherleigh, Devon. 
1861. A. Voss, previously Curate at Barford St. Martin, 
under Canon Waldegrave, who when Bishop of Carlisle, 
presented Mr. Voss to the living of Workington. He 
was afterwards Vicar of Allonby, where he died 1896. 


290 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Cuar.Les Henry Townsenp, M.A., Vicar 1861—1881. 


Of Brasenose College, Oxford. Was previously Perpetual Curate 
of Laverstock, near Salisbury, where the present Church was built 
during his incumbency. Mr. Townsend was instituted to the 
Vicarage of Mere in November, 1861, the Church being first lighted 
with gas on December 22nd the same year. During his incumbency 
the new vicarage house at Mere was built in 1865, and the old 
vicarage sold to Mr. William Mitchell; also the Chapels were 
erected in the Cemetery. 

In 1870 a new organ was placed in the Church and the old one 
sold. 

In 1873 a new roof was put on the chancel of the Church by the 
Keclesiastical Commissioners, as Rectors, who subsequently added 
a reredos; and in 1878 the north-west pinnacle of the tower was 
struck by lightning, and re-erected. 

The Assistant-Curates at Mere during Mr. Townsend’s incum- 
bency were :— 

1864—5. Charles Edward Hornby. 
1865—6. George A. E. Kempson. 


1867. Lucius Henry O’Brien. 
1868—9. W. Box. 
1869. Ernest Peere Williams Freeman. 


1870—1. William Hobday. 
1871—8. Henry Vaughan. 


1874. J. Sorrell and R. Thompson. 
1875. KR. W. P. Montgomery and J. 8. Ellis. 
1876. George Fletcher and C. J. Armistead. 


1876—1881. James Cheel. 


Epwix GrorcrE Wytp, B.A., Vicar 1881—1890. 

Of Exeter College, Oxford. Previously Rector of Woodborough. 
Was instituted to the Vicarage of Mere, November 6th, 1881. In 
1890 he became Vicar of Melksham. 

1882.—February 14th, a branch of the C.E.T.S. was started. 
March 7th, the foundation stone of St. Matthew’s Church was laid 


i. ee ee 


By T. H. Baker. 291 


by Miss Julia E. Chafyn Grove. Easter Day, the choir was 
surpliced. September 21st, St. Matthew’s Day, St. Matthew’s 
Church was opened at a cost (including the value of the site, given 
by Miss Chafyn Grove, and haulage by the farmers) of £1500. 
The bells were re-hung this year at a cost of about £70. The 
churchyard was levelled and laid out with flower beds. 

1883.—The St. Michael’s Church Guild for Men and Women 
was founded. 

1886.—A new organ was placed in the Church at a cost of about 
£330. 

1888.—The tower was re-pointed and the north-east pinnacle re- 
built at a cost of about £150. 


The Curates under Mr. Wyld were :— 
1881—90. W. Chell. 
1881—4. Thomas Veal. 
1885. H. G. E. Westmacott, a Canadian. 
1885—9. J. F.S. Pritchitt. 
1889—90. G. E. W. Highmore. 


Joun Aucustrus Luioyp, M.A. 


B.A., St. John’s Coll., Oxford, 1872; M A., 1874; deacon and 
priest by Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, 1873, 1874. Was 
instituted to the Vicarage of Mere, November 29th, 1890, by the 
Bishop of Salisbury, and inducted at the same time by the Rev. 
Edwin G. Wyld, of Melksham, formerly Vicar, the Bishop subse- 
quently holding a confirmation. Formerly Curate of Bibury, 
Gloucestershire, and Blymhill, Staffordshire, and Vicar of Broad 
Hinton, Wilts, 1877—1890. Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of 
Freemasons in 1888. Surrogate, 1891, in which year new infant 
and technical schools, given by Miss Chafyn Grove, were begun, 
and extensive improvements in the National School buildings set 
on foot at an estimated cost of £3000. Miss Chafyn Grove, who 
died November 27th, 1891, left a sum of £450 for a new roof and 
other improvements in the Bettesthorne Chapel of the Parish 
Church, an endowment of £108 a year for the Assistant-Curate at 


292 Notes on the History of Mere. 


S. Matthew’s District Church, and a sum of £50 to be invested for 
the benefit of the Dorcas Society in Mere. The Assistant-Curates 
at present working in the parish are the Revs. William Chell, B.A., 
and Arthur Goodman. 


Natives oF Mere.! 
Joun Martin. 


The following memoir, given in Wood’s <Athene Ovxonienses 
(second edition), is quoted at length :— 


“John Martin, son of a father of both his names, who was a schoolmaster in 
a little market town, called Meere, in Wilts, was born there, became a batler 
of Trinity College in Lent term, an. 1637, aged 17 years, with hopes of obtaining 
a scholarship there by the favour of Dr. Hannibal Potter, the president of that 
house, upon whose account he first settled there; but that design failing, his 
father caused him to be entered into Oriel College, where, being put under a 
careful tutor, he took one degree in arts, an. 1640. In 1642 the civil war 
began, and whether he bore arms for his Majesty within the garrison of Oxon, 
or was called home by his relations, I know not. Sure I am, that, having 
a benefice promised him, he took priestly orders from the hands of Dr. Rob. 
Skinner, bishop of Oxon, in Trinity college chapel, on the 21st of Dec., an. 
1645, and two days after, he was instituted Vicar of Compton Chamberlayne, 
in Wilts, by the presentation thereunto of Sir John Penruddock, who gave 
him also the lecturer’s place in the church there. Afterwards being settled, 
as much as the then times could permit, he continued there in good repute, 
till he was, among other religious ‘and conscientious divines, ejected for refusing 
the Presbyterian covenant. Being thus deprived by unreasonable men, he 
rented a little farm at Tysbury, lived as a grazier in the times of usurpation, 
was knowing and consenting to the generous, yet unfortunate insurrection of 
the cavaliers at Salisbury in the latter end of 1654, at which time they were 
headed by the most loyal and valiant Colonel John Penruddock, son and heir 
of the aforesaid Sir John -Penruddock; for which he the said Mr. Martin 
suffered for a time by a close imprisonment, and had without doubt, gone to 
pot, could the rebels have found sufficient witnesses that he had been engaged 
in the said plot or insurrection. However, being made one of the trustees for 
the estate of the said colonel, he, by his prudence, preserved it from seques- 
tration, was in a condition to cherish his distressed family, and take his children 


1In Coxe’s Magna Britannia, Britton’s Beauties of Wilts, and Stratford’s 
Wiltshire and its Worthies, &c., Francis Lord Cottington is mentioned as a 
native of Mere; but, as Sir R. C. Hoare points out (Modern Wilts, Hundred 
of Mere, p. 158), the real residence of his family was at Godminster (spelt 
Godminston by Hoare), near Bruton, Co. Somerset. As I have never found the 
name of Cottington in any documents relating to Mere, or been able to find any 
confirmation of the statement that he was born at Mere, I have thought it best 
to omit his name from the list of natives —T.H.B. 


i 
. 
' 
. 


By T. H. Baker. 293 


under his roof. He was a person of great modesty, well skilled in the Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew languages, and versed in all such learning as was necessary 
to make him a compleat divine; and therefore after the restoration of his 
Majesty King Charles II. when ancient learning began to be in repute again, 
he became much esteemed by the ministers and loyal gentry of his neighbour- 
hood, was restored to what he had lost, and by the favour of Thomas Freek 
Esq. was made Rector of Melcomb Horsey, in Dorsetshire, in January an. 1660. 

“When Dr. Earl was translated from Worcester to Salisbury he made choice 
of our author Martin to preach his primary visitation sermon, and intended 
his farther promotion in the church, but being untimely taken away, his design 
failed. However, when Dr. Seth Ward became bishop of that place, he collated 
him to the prebendship of Yatsbury, in the church of Sarum, by the resignation 
of Mr. Daniel Whitby, on the 10th of Dec. an. 1668 (about which time he made 
him his dean rural for the deanery of Chalk), and soon after upon a vacancy, 
the dean and canons would have elected him canon resident, but his modesty 
would not permit him to give them any encouragement. In the month of 
October, 1675, he was made Chaplain to Charles, Earl of Nottingham, and in 
the beginning of Oct., 1677, he was collated by the said Bishop Ward (who had 
a singular respect for him and his learning), to the prebendship of Preston in 
the said Church of Sarum: which prebendship, with his rectory, vicaridge, and 
lecture (little enough for such a modest and learned person, and so great a 
sufferer for his loyalty as Mr. Martin was), he kept for some time after the 
Prince of Orange came to the Crown. 

“At length, sticking to his old principles, and denying the oath of allegiance 
to him and his queen, was deprived of all, except his lecture, which being. worth 
about £30 per annum, was all that he had left to keep him till the time of his 
death, as was reported'; but Bp. Burnet in the Vindication of his Sermon at 
Dr. Tillotson’s burial, p. 62, saith, ‘Mr. Martin was continued by me in his 
living till his death, which happened two years ago,? and I still paid him the 
income of his prebend out of my purse. He would not indeed not take the oaths, 
but he would never join in the schism with the rest of the non-jurors, whose 
principles and practices he said to me he detested. 

“* He hath written and published several sermons, as (1) Hosanna, a Thanks- 
giving Sermon, intended to have been preached 28 June, 1660, &c., on Psalm 
118,—22, 23, 24, 25, Oxon, 1660, qu. It is dedicated to William, Marquis of 
Hertford, and lady A.P, meaning, I suppose, Arundella Penruddock, mother to 
Col. John Penruddock. 

“*(2) Lex Pacifica, or God’s own law of determining Controversies ; on Deut. 
xvii. 12, Lond. 1664, qu. It was preached at the assizes at Dorchester, for the 
county of Dorset, the 5th of Aug. 1664, and is dedicated to Sir Matthew Hale, 


1“ Fyrom hence to the end of the quotation seems impossible to be wrote by 
Anth. Wood.”—Note by Loveday in Bliss’s edition of Athene Oxonienses. 

2 This could not be, for his successor, Rev. Nath. Highmore, M.A., was 
instituted to the living of Bingham’s Melcombe in 1690, and John Martin did 
“not die till November, 1695. 


294 Notes on the History of Mere. 


lord chief justice of the Exchequer, Sir John Archer, one of the justices of Com. 
Pleas, and to Thomas Freek, Esq., high sheriff of Dorsetshire. 

“* Go in Peace,’ containing some brick directions to young Ministers in Grek 
Visitation of the Sick, useful for the People in their State both of Health and 
Sickness, Lond. 1674, in large 12mo. 

“* Mary Magdalene’s Tears wiped off; or the Voice of Peace to an unquiet 
conscience, &c. Lond., 1676, octavo, written by way of letter to a person of 
quality, and published for the comfort of those that mourn in Zion. He hath 
written other things fit for the press, which perhaps may in time see light. At 
length this worthy divine dying at Compton Chamberlayne before mentioned, on 
the third day of Novemb., in sixteen hundred, ninety and three, was buried in 
the chancel of the Church there, leaving then behind him the character among 
those that well know him of a modest, learned divine, and altogether fitting of 
a greater station in the church than he enjoyed after the restoration of his 
Majesty King Charles II. &c., as I have been informed by that primitive 
christian, faithful and generous friend, Nich. Martin, master of arts, and vice- 
principal of Hart-hall, near of kin to the said John Martin.’” 


Mr. Martin, of Stour Provost, having referred Sir Richard Hoare 
to this memoir, remarked that :— 


“although he is there said to have had but little to keep him at the time of his 
death yet the court-roll of Gillingham proves he had a tolerable estate there, 
and Mr. M. is happy to say it is now (1823) in the possession of a great-grand- 
daughter of the celebrated Hugh Grove, of Chisenbury, and who is the widow 
of a great-grandson of the above John Martin.” 


Some brief memoranda of John Martin were printed in 1868 by 
his descendant Albinus Martin, Esq., of Windsor. 


Tuomas Norris, 


born at Mere in 1741, was a well-known tenor singer. He com- 
posed a chant used for the Magnificat. He died in Staffordshire, 
1790. 


“On the 3d. inst. died at Himley, the seat of Lord Viscount Dudley and 
Ward, Mr. Norris of Oxford, Bachelor of Music, whose professional abilities 
have been long known and admired. He was a native of Mere in this county, 
formerly a chorister of our cathedral, and pupil of the late Dr. Stephens, of this 
city. As a singer Mr. Norris justly held the first place in the Oratorio depart- 
ment; and that superiority in opening the Messiah and some other pieces he 
maintained to his last public appearance. To an excellent tenor voice, Mr. N. 
added great musical knowledge, and a most exquisite taste. For some time he 
had been afflicted with an illness which occasionally was so violent as considerably 
to obstruct him in his professional engagements. At the Abbey Music, such was — 
his debility that he could not hold the book from which he sung, his whole frame 
was agitated by a nervous tremour, and the insufticiency of his voice evidently 


—— 


By T. H. Baker. 295 


proceeded from an inability to exert what in the plenitude of health was wont 
to enrapture and delight. Of this failure, at the last commemoration of Handel 
he was sensible. Aware that his reputation would suffer, should he make so 
unsuccessful an exit from public life, he resolved to make one more attempt, and 
once more exert the full strength of his vocal abilities. With this view he 
engaged himself, at the late Birmingham Music Meeting. On the first day he 
failed, and omitted an air; but on the last night his exertions astonished every 
one. That Norris was great before, but never so great as then, was the general 
opinion. The theatre rung with applause. Madame Mara was forgot, and the 
distinguished invalid enjoyed and deserved the loudest acclamations of the 
assembly. Much however as this success redounded to his fame, it was 
purchased with his life. His constitution was too feeble to survive efforts so 
violent and determined. Lord Dudley who, from early years has had a 
friendship for him, kindly invited him to Himley, in hopes it might have 
contributed to his recovery.’ (Salisbury and Winchester Journal, Sept. 13th, 
1790.) 


eee rl eel ee 


Francis Porrer, B.D., 
Rector of Kilmington, was born in the vicarage house at Mere, 
1594. 
Wood, in his Athenw Ovonienses, writes of him :— 


* Francis Potter was born in the Vicaridge House at Meyre in Wilts on Trinity 
Sunday, av. 1594, educated in Grammar learning in the King’s school at 
Worcester under Mr. Hen. Bright, became a Communer of Trin. Coll, under 
the tuition of his elder brother Hannibal Potter, in the latter end of the year 
1609, took the degrees in Arts and one in Divinity, and continued in the Coll. 
a close student till his father died an 1637,! and then succeeding him in 
the Rectory of Kilmanton (sometimes called Kilmington and Culmington) 
left the University for altogether, retired to that place, led a single and monkish 
life, without the conversation of ingenious men till the day of his death, 
He was from a boy given to drawing and painting, and the Founder’s picture 
that hangs in the Refectory of Zin. Coll. is of his copying. His genie laid 
most of all in the Mechanicks, had an admirable mechanical invention, and 
excellent notions for the raising of water, and making water engins; many 
of which inventions being presented to the Royal Society about the time of 
its first erection, were highly approved by them, and forthwith the members 
thereof admitted him one of their number. About the year 1640 he entertained 
the notion of curing diseases by transfusion of blood out of one man into 
another; the hint whereof came into his head from Ovid's story of Medea 
and Jason, which matter he communicating to the Royal Society, about the 
time of its first erection, was entred into their books. But this way of 
transfusion having (as ’tis said) been mentioned long before by And» Libavius 
our author Potter (who I dare say never saw that Writer) is not to be esteemed 
the first inventor of that notion, nor Dr. Rich. Lower, but rather an Advaneer. 


' Richard Potter, his father, died 1629. 


296 Notes on the History of Mere. 


He hath written and published An interpretation of the number 666, wherein 
not only the manner how this number ought to be interpreted, is clearly proved 
and demonstrated; but it is also shewed, that this number is an exquisite and 
perfect character, truly, exactly and essentially describing that state of govern- 
ment, to which all other notes of Antichrist do agree. Oxon 1642. qu. Which 
book as one (Joseph Mede of Cambs) saith ‘is the happiest that ever yet came 
into the world; and such as cannot be read (save of those persons that will not 
believe it) without mueh admiration &c.’ A book called also The Key of 
the Scripture written by a London Divine, wherein, being large upon the 
Revelations he prefers the said Interpretation before all others. It was after- 
wards translated into French, Dutch and Latin ; the last of which was done by 
several hands and severally printed. One copy was all or mostly performed by 
Tho. Gilbert of S. Edm. Hall printed at Amsterd. 1677, oct. And that, or the 
other, was partly remitted into Matth. Poole’s Synopsis Critic. in the second 
part of the fourth volume, on the Revelations. What answers were made to 
the said Interpretation, that were printed, I think there were none; sure I am 
that one Lambert Morehouse, Minister of Pertwood,! about 6 miles from 
Kilmanton accounted by some a learned man and a good Mathematician did 
write against it, and seemed to be angry with the Author that 25 is not the true, 
but the propinque root ; To which the Author replied with some sharpness. The 
M.S. of this controversie Morehouse gave to Dr. Seth Ward, B. of Salisbury, 
an. 1668, before which time he was prefer’d by Dr. Henchman then B. of that 
place to the spiritual cure of Little Langford in Wilts, where he died about 
1672. He was a Westmorland man by birth, was educated, I think in Clare 
Hall in Cambridge and wrot other things, but are not printed. As for our 
author Potter, he lived to a good old age, died perfectly blind at Kilmanton 
between Easter and Whitsuntide (in the month of Apr. I think) in sixteen 
hundred seventy and eight, and was buried in the chancel of the church there. 
His memory is preserved in Z’rin. Coll. by a Dial that he made and set up on the 
north side of the Old Quadrangle, where it doth yet remain. His father’s name 
was Rich. Potter, an Oxfordshire man born, some time Fellow of the said 
Coll. of the holy Trinity and afterwards Vicar of a little mercate Town in 
Wilts, and rector of Kilmington or Kilmanton in Somersetshire before men- 
tion’d.” 


Aubrey, in his “ Topographical Collections, under Mere, says :— 


“Tt ought not to be forgotten that the reverend and learned Divine, Mr. 
Francis Potter, D.D., Rector of Kilmington, in Co. Somerset, 1675, quondam a 
Commoner of Trinity College in Oxford, author of the ‘ Interpretation of the 
number 666,’ which is translated into French, High Dutch, Low Dutch, and 


1 This is an error. It should be Launcelot Moorbouse. He had the character 
of a learned man and good mathematician. He objected to Potter’s theory that 
25 is not the true, but the approximate or “ propinque ” root of the number 666, 
which drew forth a sharp answer from that singular character. Launcelot 
Moorhouse is buried at Little Langford, under a common gravestone near the 
altar. 


By T. H. Baker. 297 


Latin : a rare inventor of machines, and my singular good friend, was born here 
in the Vicaridge house, his father being vicar here and Rector of Kilmington.’ 


In his Natural History of Wiltshire he says :— 


“Mr. Francis Potter, Rector of Kilmanton, did sett a hive of bees in one of 
the lances of a paire of scales in a little closet, and found that in summer dayes 
they gathered about half-a-pound a day ; and one day, which he conceived was a 
honey-dew, they gathered three pounds wanting a quarter. The hive would be 
something lighter in the morning than at night. He also tooke five live bees 
and put them in paper, which he did cutt like a grate and weighed them, and 
in an hower or two they would wast the weight of three or four wheat-corns. 
He bids me observe their thighs in a microscope. A plaster of honey effectually 
helpeth a bruise.” 


Anthony Wood also says :— 


“Twas pity that such a delicate inventive witt should be staked in an obscure 
corner, from whence men rarely emerge to higher preferment, but contract a moss 
on them, like an old pale in an orchard, for want of ingenious conversation, which 
is a great want even to the deepest thinking men. Mr. Potter was born 1594, 
and died about 1678. His book was published at Oxford in 4to, 1642.” 


(See Wiltshire Collections, Aubrey and Jackson, p. 389.) 


Pepys mentions it in his Memoirs (Feb. 18th, 1665-6, and 4th 
and 10th Noy., 1666) :— 


“It pleased him mightily, he liked it all along, but the close most excellent, 
and whether right or wrong, mighty ingenious.” 


Mr. Potter also left behind him a remedy for the gout (See 
Aubrey, Natural History of Wiltshire, p. 73) :— 


* For the gowte. Take the leaves of the wild vine (Bryony, Vitis alba), bruise 
them and boyle them and apply it to the place grieved, lapd in a colewort leafe. 
This cured an old man of 84 years of age at Kilmanton, in 1669, and he was well 
since to June, 1670; which account I had from Mr. Francis Potter, the Rector 
there.” 


He has also left us an account of the murder of the Hartgills, 
which puts rather a different light on the affair from that of the 
generally-received version (See Wiltshire Collections, p, 393) :— 

“Tt is to be remembered that in those dayes there were animosities, they 
termed it feuds, between Lords and Lords, and Gentlemen and Knights, in all 
counties; and in Queen Marie’s time there was a great feud between this Lord 


and William Herbert, the first Earl of Pembroke, of that family, who was 
altogether a stranger in the West, and from a private gentleman of no estate, 


298 Notes on the History of Mere. 


but only a soldier of fortune, becoming a favourite of King Henry VIIL., at the 
dissolution of the Abbeys, in few years, from nothing slipt into a prodigious 
estate of the Church’s lands, which brought great envy on him from this Baron 
of an ancient family, and great paternal estate, besides the difference in religion. 
The Lord Stourton aforesayd was a person of great spirit and courage, and kept 
in his retinue the stoutest fellowes he could hear of. Amongst others he heard 
of one Hartgill, a mighty stout fellowe who had lately killed a man, who was 
recommended to his Lordship for his valour ; who when he cameinto his family, 
the Lord Stourton gave the next Sunday, ten groates to the priest of the parish 
to say a Masse for him at church, for the expiation of Hartgill’s sin in killing a 
man. A surly, dogged, crosse fellowe it seems he was, who at last, when his 
Lordship had advanced him to be steward of his estate, cosined his Lord of the 
Mannour of Kilmanton, the next parish. I think it wasa Trust. The Lord 
Stourton who also had as good a spirit, seeing that his servant Hartgill had so 
ensnared him in law tricks as that he could not possibly be relieved, not being 
able to bear so great and ungrateful an abuse, murthered him.” 


John Britton says :— 


“An Interpretation of the number 666 is a curiosity in literature. It ex- 
emplifies forcibly the obstruse and mystical researches in which the literati of 
the seventeenth century indulged ; wherein not only the manner how this number 
ought to be interpreted is clearly proved and demonstrated, but it is also shewed 
that this number is an exquisite and perfect character truly, exactly and essentially 
describing that state of government in which all other notes of Antichrist do 
agree; with all knowne objections solidly and fully answered that can be 
materially made against it.” 


So general were studies of this nature at the time, that Potter’s 
volume was translated into French, Dutch and Latin. The author, 
though somewhat visionary, was a profound mathematician, and 
invented several ingenious mechanical instruments. 

Aubrey, who knew him, says of him :— 


* He looks the most like a monk or one of the pastors of the old time that I 
ever saw. He was pretty long visaged and pale, clear skin, grey eyes. His 
discourse was admirable, and all new and unvulgar.” 


Another person writing of his book, says :— 


“ Bxuberant as is the praise which Jose (sic) Mede bestows upon this booke, it 
is not superior to its deserts. To say it is the most ingenious book ever written 
on the subject is to say too little; I know of no Hypothesis on a matter, dubious 
as this is, so ingeniously constructed throughout.” 


He was one of those Royalists on whom fines were imposed at 
the conclusion of the Civil War. In Waylen’s list of Wiltshire 


: 
of 
L 


» 
: 
. 
q 


By T. H. Baker. 299 


Compounders,' he is described as an old gentleman far too deeply 
absorbed in his philosophical researches into physics and mathe- 
matics to act as a dangerous partizan, yet someone informed against 
him before the sequestrators of Somerset. On making his appearance 
before the board at Wells, one of their number, well acquainted with 
his harmless disposition, took him aside, and told him he need be 
under no sort of alarm: and, giving him a glass of wine, recom- 
mended him to make the best of his way back to his home; which 
friendly advice he followed, and it is believed heard no more from 
sequestrators. 


Lisr or CHURCHWARDENS OF MERE. 


1556 ) | Robert Bysshopp 1586 ) | Willm Chafyn gent. & Rich- 
1557 § | Robert, Lambert 4 1587 ard Hill 

1558 | No churchwardens appointe 1588 

1559 )| Wolstane ffoster PP 1589 Henry Wallis & John Coward 
1560 § | Thomas Wattes 1590 | Henry Wallis & George 
1561 Randall ffoster alias Banester Greene 

1562 )| Richard Kendall the yong". | 1591 | Thomas fforward & George 
neat Thomas Barnard and Willm Greene 

1564, Lucas 1592 | John Hewett of Burton & 
1565 | Thomas Holbroke & John Thomas fforward 


Watts, who died & Johane} 1593 | Symon Crouch & John Hewett 
Watts, his widdowe suc-| 1594 | Symon Crouch & Willm 


ceeded Crumppe 
1566) | Thomas Holbroke & Thomas} 1595 | Willm Crumpe & James King 
Crouch 1596 | Thomas Banister & James 
1567 ) | Thomas Holbroke died King 
1568 | Davy Bower & Willi Tovy | 1597 Xpofer fforward & Thomas 
1569 | John fforward thelder & Banister 
Thomas Bartlett 1598 | Xpofer fforward & John 
1570 | Davy Bower & William Tovy ffrauncis 
1573 | Willm fforward & Willm | 1599 | John ffrauncis 
Kendall 1600 | Randoll Coward & Simon 
1574 ee Misc & John Crouch 
1575 Long 1601 Robte Coward & George 
1576 miahice P eosin & Robte | 1602 Abbott 
1577 Clyves 1603 | John Clement & John Cowley 
1578 ){ John fforward & Edward | 1604 | Thomas ffoster and John 
1579 fford Cowley 
1580 )| John Tovy, glover & Phillip | 1605 | Leonard Snook & Edward 
1581) Hendy fforward, drap. 
1582 )} Richard yarn & Nicholas | 1606 | George Bradley, clothier & 
1583 Clement Thomas Crouch, butcher 
1584 |} John Sheppard & Leonard | 1607 | Wolston ffoster & Thomas 
1585 Cowly Banister 


‘Wilts Arch. Mag., xxvi., 317. 


Notes on the History of Mere. 


Thomas fforward & Roger 
Wilton 

Willm Hewitt & Wolston 
Illing 

Thomas Chafin gent. & Wol- 
ston Illing 

Robte Coward & Leonard 
Snooke 

Xpofer fforward & Willn 
Stevens 


Thomas fforward & John 
Lander 

Wolston ffoster & Thomas 
Bannyster 


John florward J' of Wood- 
land & John Ball alias 
Rogers 

Roberte Gatehouse & Thomas 
Hewett 

John Knowles & Nicholas 
Kendall 

Thomas Pytman & Rob. Ban- 
nyster 

Thomas ffoster & Thomas 
Doggerell 

Thomas ffoster & Thomas 
Alford of Hyncks myll 

Thomas Alford of Hinxmill 
& Willn Kendall 


Willm Kendall & Robert 
Bannister 
ye Laie & Willn 
Jaq 
Wilhn "Client & Robte 
Gathouse 
Robte Pitman & Henry 
Tilston 
Henrie Tilston & Robte 
Pitman 


James Lucas & Moses Wilkins 
[Togood 
Robte Coward & Christofer 


John Crumpe & Willm Gar- 


land 


Will Baron, gent & Thomas 


Banister 

Willm Baron, gen. & Robte 
Goldisbrough Jun" gen. 

John Bower & ffranncis 
Cradock, gent. 

John Ball “alias Rogers & 
Robert Pyttman 

Thomas Alford & Henry 
Bowrne 

Thomas Bower 
Bowrne 


& Henry 


1640 
1641 
1642 
1643 
1644 
1645 
1646 
1660 
1665 
1666 
1667 
1668 
1669 
1670 


1671 
1672 


1673 
1674 
1675 


1676 
1677 


1678 
1679 
1680 
1681 
1682 


1683 
1684. 


1685 
1686 
1687 
1688 
1689 
1690 


1691 
1692 


Henry Bowrne & Jasper 
Coward 


Henry Bowrne 


William Havill & William 
Bunn 

William Clement & Richard 
fisher 

Henry Clarke & John 
Clement 

W. B. & W. H. 

W..'C. & TT: 

Wm. Ball and Robert Pitman 

William Coward & John 
Clement 

Thomas Gamlyn & Henry 
Trembe 

Edward Bernard & William 
ffoard 

John Hewett 
Trimby 

John Citent & John Welch 

John Hebditch & Thomas 
Rabbetts 

Joseph Berjewe & Thomas 
Cobourne 

Henry Clarke sen’. & Robert 


& Henry 


Alford 
Walter Shadwell & Edmund 
Best sen. Lucas 
Willm Twogood & Thomas 
Richard Fisher & Thomas 
Cobourne 
John Hewitt & Edward Co- 


bourne 
John Illing & James Alford 


John Wilkings & Henry 
Smarte 

Christopher Butt & Michael 
fforwarde 

John Illinge & Thomas ffry 

Thomas Rabbetts & John 
ffoord 

George Hoopper & Peter 
Sparrowe 

ate cae & Edward 
ffoord 

John ffarthinge & William 
Bealinge 

James Hardinge & Willn 
Weecks 

Anthony Taylor & John Jacob 

Edmund Hinninge sen, 
John Bowles senior 

Christopher Twogood & Mi- 
chaell Downe 


1693 
1694, 
1695 


1696 
1697 
1698 


1699 
1700 
1701 
1702 


1703 
1704. 
1705 


1706 
1707 
1708 
1709 
1710 
1711 


1712 
1713 
1714 
1715 
1716 
1717 
1718 
1719 


1720 ) 
1721 
1722 
1723 
1724 
1725 
1726 


1727 
1728 


1729 


1730 
(1731 


‘By T. H. Baker. 


William Baron gen. & 
Thomas Cobourne 

Joseph Berjewe & Robert 
fforward 

Joseph Berjewe, gent. & 
Thomas Hebditch 

Edward Cornelius gen. & 
Edward Colborne 

Willm Barnard & Abraham 
Suter 

Willm Barnard *& Phillip 
ffreith 


Christopher Twogood & 
Robert Illing 
Christopher Twogood & 
Robert Elling 

James Harding & John 
Clement 


William ffoord & Richard 
Brixey 

Richard Brixey & Thomas 
Rabbetits 

Michaell Downe 
Henry Jupe 


William Gamlyn & John 
ffarthing 


sent’ & 


John Clement & John ffar- 


thing 

William Harding & John 
ffarthing 

Osmond Hill & James Butt 

Osmond Hill & Christopher 
Butt 

John Coward & Steaphen 


ffryer 
Joseph Merchant & Edward 
Barnard 


Thomas Alferd & Henry 
Glover 


Michel fforward & Richard 
ffoord 

Christopher Twogood & 
Richard Foard 

Christopher Twogood & 
William Foard 

Nathaniel Jacob & Nicholas 
Bannister {Butt 

Nathaniel Jacob & William 

William Butt & Andrew 


Judeney 
Richard Ford & Andrew 
J udeney [ward 


Richard Ford & Giles For- 
Giles Forward & James 
Down 


VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVIII. 


1732 
1733 


1734 


1735 
1736 


1737 


1738 
1739 


1740 


1741 
1742 
ied | 
1744 
1745 
1746 
1747 
1748 


1749 


1750 
1751 
1752 
1753 
1764 
1755 


1756 
1757 


1758 
1759 


1760 
1761 


1762 


1763 
1764 


1765 
1766 
1767 
1768 


1769 
1770 
1771 


301 


Edward Butt, Jun* 

Chaffin Grove & James 
Harding 

Randolph Baron & Andrew 
Dudney 

Michael Butt & Joseph Jacob 

Thomas Ellis & Thomas 
Maidment 

William Foord & Richard 


Foord 
William Butt & John Hill 
Andrew Dewdney & Giles 
Jupe 
Giles Forward & Richard 
Robbens 
John Ford & William Jupe 
John Ford & Joseph Jacob 


Edward Butt & James Down 


Thomas Ellis & John Moors 

Giles Jupe & Giles Forward 

Robert Brixey & John Ford 

Robert Coward & Thomas 
Toogood 

ae Brixey & William 


Rogers & Abraham 
Suter 

Stephen Butt & Joseph Jacob 

Joseph Butt & Richard Ford 

John Butt & Robert Butt 

Edward Davis & Giles For- 


ward 
Thomas Ellis & John Ford 
Abraham Suter & Henry 
Moors 
Thomas Pitman & Thomas 


Young 
William Elliot & Joseph 
Jacob 
Giles Jupe & Richard Ford 
Henry Hindley & William 


Ford 
William Forward & John 
Toogood [Brixey 
William Hull & Babee 
Christopher Dowding & 
Joseph Suter 
William Moors & John fford 
Abraham Suter 
William Shore & Robert Butt 
Jeremiah Morris & Thomas 
Perman 
Jeremiah Morris & John 
Butt 


| Jeremiah Morris & Harry 


Toogood 
x 


302 
1772 


1773 


1774 
1775 
1776 


1777 
1778 
1779 


1780 
1781 


1782 
1783 
1784, 
1785 


1786 
1787 
1788 


1789 


1790 
1791 


1792 
1793 
1794 


1795 
1796 
1797 


1798 
1799 


1800 


1801 
1802 
1803 
1804 
1805 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 
1812 
1813 
1814 
1815 


ee eS ee —— 


Notes on the History of Mere. 


John Toogood & Stephen 
Butt 

Aaron Dewdney & William 
Ford 


James Down & James Fry 


William Wickham & Abra- 
ham Suter [Jupe 

William Harding & Henry 

James Norris & John Ford 

John Jukes & Thomas Maid- 
ment 

John Lander & Giles Forward 

William: Beckett & John 
Toogood 


William Chaffin Grove, Esq. 
& William Beckett 


William Chafin Grove, Esq. 
& John Togood 

John Hooper & James Butt 

John Hooper & John Phillips 

John Hooper & William 
Jones 

John Toogood & Aaron 
Dewdney 

John Toogood & Henry Jupe 

John Toogood & Thomas 
Maidment 

William Beckett & Aaron 
Dewdney 

William Harding sen & 
Henry P. Hindley 

Joseph Hawkins & Henry 
Plucknett Hindley 

Edward Butt & Henry 
Plucknett Hindley 

Edward Butt & John Phillips 

Edward Butt & Thomas 
Maidment 

John Toogood & Richard 
Coleman 

Edward Butt & Richard 
Coleman [Forward 

Edward Butt & William 

William Forward & Aaron 
Dewdney 

John Toogood & 
Lander 


James 


John Toogood & Albin Butt 


William Forward & John 
Phillips 


1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 
1820 


1821 
1822 


1823 
1824 
1825 


—_—~——~— —. 


John Phillips & John Burfitt 

John Burfitt & John Curtis 

John Jupe & John Curtis ~ 

John Jupe & John Mitchell 

John Jupe & William For- 
ward 

John Phillips & John White 

Robert Cross & Edward 
Merryweather [Mitchell 

Robert White & Richard 

John White & John Mitchell 

John Phillips & William 
Wickham 

John Phillips & Richard 
Mitchell 

Charles Card & Charles 


Burfitt 

John Phillips & John 
Mitchell 

John Phillips & Robert 
White 

John Phillips & John Jupe 

John Jupe & Robert White 


William White & Robert 
White 

John Phillips & Christopher 
Rose 

John Phillips & John Jupe 

Edmund Lander & John 
Jupe 

Edmund Lander & John 
White 

Charles Card & John White 

Charles Card & Henry Jupe 

Charles Card & William 
White 

John Curtis & William White 

John Curtis & John Phillips 

John Ford & Ambrose Butt 

John Ford & Giles Jupe 

| John Jupe & Giles Jupe 

John Jupe & John Mitchell 

_ Walter Snook & John Jupe 

| Walter Snook & John Phillips 

John Ford & John Phillips 

Charles Card & William 
Pike 


| Charles Card & Thomas Jupe 


Charles Card & John Phillips 


John Parfitt& John Harding 
William Chafyn Grove & 
; Henry Snook [ Rose 
| Henry Snook & Christopher 
|Henry Snook & Thomas 
|  Jupe : 


By T. H. Baker. 303 


1862 | Thomas Jupe & Thomas | 1878 Edward Austen Card & 
__ Henry Baker 1879 Bdwoerd-Derkkks 
1863 Thomas Henry Baker & | 1880 
| Edward Austen Card 1881 Edward Austen Card & 
1864 Edward Austen Card & John Walton 
Edward Paul Mitchell 1882 , 
1865 |! Edward Paul Mitchell & | 1883/1] John Walton & John Thomas 
1866 John Phillips 1884 Mitchell 
1867 | 1885 / | 
1868 (| Charles Card & William 1886) | 
1869(  ~=Mitchell 1887 
1870) 1888 : 
1871) | William Mitchell & Edward | 1gs9 $| John, Thomas, Mitchell & 
1872} Larkam 1899 a 
1873 | Edward Larkam & Edward | 1891 
Austen Card As 1892 ) 
874 Er er ilton | 1893) | ~ 
ESTA | veg Ph ison at John Sawtell & Arthur 


1875 = Ernest Baker & Wilton 1895 Rabbetts White 


Provis. [The latter died | 1896)| Thomas Henry Baker & 
and was replaced by Wil- | 1897 } Arthur Rabbetts White 
liam Sidney White] 

i877 {| Ernest Baker and William 

18775 | Sidney White 


[Note.—The names of the churchwardens from 1660 to 1672 are from other 


Sources than the churchwardens’ book, there being no accounts during that 
period. ] 


Parisu OLErKs. 


1566. Raufe Rose died. 1719. James Glover. 

1569. Thomas Welsted, 1737. George Glover. 

1577. William Sanders. 1780. Walter Alford. 

1610. John Martin. 1795. William Coward. 

1619. John Cleeves. 1846. William Coward (son of 
1641. Charles Ittery. his predecessor). 

1680. Jonathan Bealing. 1861. Frederick Cross. 


[The above may not be the dates of their appointments, but they were in office 
at those times. ] 


SEXTOoNs. 


1568. Thomas Jerard the bedeman. 1738. William Hooper. 
1578. William Belly bedman. | 1760. Joseph Beckett. 
1585. Robert Goodden beadman. 1792. Charles Cross. 
1610. William Harding bedman. | 1816. James Cross. 

1675. John Harding. | 1864, Frederick Cross. 


1719. John Harding saxton died. 1890. Arthur Norris. 
Sr. Marruew’s Cuvrcu 


was built in 1882, to supply the wants of a scattered outlying 
district in the south-east of the parish. It was opened on St. 


y 2 


304 Notes on the History of Mere. 


Matthew’s Day (21st September), in that year. The Church is 
built of Mere Stone with Ham Hill dressings. The inside is brick. 
The roof is of pitch pine, and is covered with tiles from Bishop’s 
Waltham. Wood blocks form the floor of the nave, and the chancel 
is laid with Maw & Co.’s tiles. The windows are glazed with 
Cathedral glass, the work having been executed by Mr. Horwood, 
of Frome. The three central windows of the apse are in stained 
glass by the same firm, representing Our Lord in Majesty, to the 
memory of Miss Julia E. Chafyn Grove, who died November 27th, 
1891, the north light containing a representation of the Virgin 
Mary, the south, of St. John. The font was presented by the 
Rector and Churchwardens of Pylle Church, Somerset, on their 
discovery of the original font of their own Church. The builders 
of the Church were Messrs. John Hooper and Charles Coward, both 
of Mere; the architect, C. E. Ponting, Esq., F.S.A. 


DissENTING CHAPELS. 


The first mention of a Meeting-House is in the churchwardens’ 
book :— 


1705. At y* Church was 8°. and 8d. at y*° Meeting House, 10*, in all.” 

1706. Collected briefs. Chatteris March 31, 8*. Morgan’s Lane, South- 
wark Aug. 18" 17°, 24, 2q. whereof was collected at y° Meeting House 6°. 24. 2q- 
Bafford Church Sept. 8th, 10°. 67. Great Torrington Sept 22, 16°. 2¢. whereof 
5°. 10%. was Collected at y* Meeting House.” 

“ William Smith Nov. 17th 11°. 64. 2q. whereof 4°, 64, 2q. was collected at y* 
Meeting House.” 

“1707. Briefs collected. North Marston June y* 8th 17s, 7d. whereof is 
collected at Meeting Ho. 

“For Shire Lane at y* Church Fourteen shillings, at y® Meeting House Five 
shillings. In all nineteen shillings. July 6th.” 

“ For Towcester at y° Church Ten shillings and four pence, at y* Meeting 
house Three shillings ninepence. In all fourteen shillings and one penny July 
y° 27th.” 

“For Little Port September y® 7th at y* Church Twelve shillings; at y° 
Meeting House Three shillings and Eleven pence, in all Fifteen shillings and 
Eleven pence.” 

“For Spilsby at y® Church Sixteen shillings, at y° Meeting House Seven 
shillings : In all Twenty three shillings. 

“ Collected for Southam Brief y* sum of Twelve shillings.’’ ! 


1These are the last briefs entered in the accounts; before this time, for 
upwards of a hundred years, they are annually recorded. 


By T. H. Baker. 305 


Tradition says this Meeting-House stood on the site of the 
Meeting-House of the Plymouth Brethren, in the angle between 
Back Lane and Bishop’s Corner. 


In 1795 a chapel was erected by the Independents, which was 
pulled down in 1852 and a new one erected in its place, which in 
1869 was converted into a British School, and the late Mr. Charles 
Jupe erected at his own cost the present Congregational Chapel, 
adjoining it, in Boar Street. 


The Primitive Methodist Chapel in North Street dates from 1846. 


The Plymouth Brethren met at a room in the Ship Inn, when 
they first settled at Mere, but a few years since they built a new 
Meeting-House on the site of the above-mentioned “ Meeting- 
House,” which existed in the early part of the eighteenth century. 


There is also a “ Friends’ Meeting-House ” in Salisbury Street. 


_ Next to the Church the Union is the most imposing building in 
the town. It was erected in 1835 from designs by Gilbert Scott. 


Scuoo.. 


The National Schoolroom was built in 1839 and enlarged in 
_ 1892, when the “ Grove Buildings,” now used as an infant school- 

room and technical room, were erected at the cost of about £2400, 

given by Miss Julia Elizabeth Chafyn Grove, of Zeals House. At 
the same time the playground on the opposite side of the road was 
given for the use of the scholars by the same lady. It was pre- 
viously a farm-yard and the site of the Church-House. The class- 
room on the north side of the National Schoolroom was added in 
about 1864. 


Tue Surv Inn. 


The very fine iron scroll-work of the sign of the Ship Inn is said 
to be of local manufacture. The artificer, to whom great credit is 
due for this elaborate design, was a clockmaker named Kingston 
Avery, who flourished here from 1730 to 1763. He erected the 


306 Notes on the History of Mere. 


present Church clock, and his name is also occasionally seen on old 
household clocks of the period. Sir R. C. Hoare says the Ship 
Inn was built on the site of a house in which Sir John Coventry 
resided about 1720, 


Bower’s Cuartry.! 


Mere is rich in charities, although several are lost, which will be 
named hereafter. 


“William Bower, of Mere by his will dated 24th February 1633 gave unto 
such of the poor people of Mere as he should limit and appoint, one yearly rent- 
charge of 20 shillings issuing out of the fourth part of those two grounds of 
meadow and pasture called Little Lyons and Fisherhayes lying in Mere 
Woodlands in the parish of Mere containing by estimation 30 acres. He directed 
that upon Three days in the yeare viz upon the ffeast day of St. Thomas 
Thapppostle, Imediately after evening prayer six shillings and eightpence and 
upon Good fryday Immediately after evening prayer the like sum of six shillings 
and eightpence, And upon the Ascension of o' Lord Jesus Christ the Jike sum 
of six shillings and eightpence, Immediately after evening prayer payment be 
made and distributed at the High Alter in the Channcell of the parish Church of 
Mere to five poor people then dwelling within the said parish, the poor of his 
blood and kindred within the said parish, poor housekeepers and widows there 
having charge of children and ashamed to beg or otherwise truly in distress 
being remembered before others.” 


Tur ALMsHoUseE.? 


‘Was erected in 1638. It contained four rooms below and four rooms over 
the same, and was built wth pte of the stocke of the Poore then remaynipg in 
the hands of some of the pishioners and others. The w* stocke was heretofore 
given by the Charitable benevolence of well disposed people at their Deaths and 
some otherwise. In which said yeare 1638 Ann Lucas the Daughter of James 
Lucas died a young mayden of the age of Eighteen yeares and gave flyve pounds 
to the Poore of Meere whereof ffower poundes was bestowed towards the building 
of the said Almshouse for a memoriall of her great Charitie towards the poore. 
‘The other Twentie shillings was bestowed on the poor at her funerall. 

“Item there was gyven by the Princes highness Comissioners aforesaid and 
others of his Councell Six Tunn of tymber w* was taken out of the Prynces 
Comon called Knowle for the said howse. 

“Item there was given by certeyn gentlemen of the pish of Meere and other 
places Tenn tymber trees viz. Mr. Willm. Willoughby of Knoyle one tree, Mr. 
Christofer Dirdo of Milton one tree, Mr. Major of Silton one tree, Mr. 
Willm Dodington of Meere, one tree, Mr. Willm Awbrey of Chawdenwich one 
tree, Mr. Willm Martyn one tree, Mr. Willm Coombes of Norton one tree, Mr- 


1 Extracted from the Mere churchwardens’ book. 
2 Fyom the churchwardens’ book of Mere. 


By T. H. Baker. 307 


Willm Rogers of Mere one tree, Mr. Andrew Ewens of Pen one tree, Mr. 
Augustine Goldsbrough one tree. Mr. ffrancis Potter pson of Kilmington gave 
ten shillings. Mr. ffeeld pson of Stourton gave ffyve shillings. 

“Item many of the pishioners of Meere gave their good wills some in money 
and some in carriage for the said building which said house soe built cost over 
and besides the said guifts gyven at the time of the building out of the said 
stocke 63 ,, 12 ,, 6. 

“Ttem it is ordered as well w'* the consent of the whole parish as alsoe by 
those whose names are hereafter sett Downe and subscribed for and in the behalfe 
of the whole pish. That all those poore people that are now placed and heareafter 
to be placed to Dwell in the said Almshouse shall leave all such goods and 
household stuffe as they or anie or either of them shall have of their owne at 
the tyme of their decease to the onlie pper use benefitt and behoofe of the said 
Almshouse for ever unlesse anie or either of them shall have Childe or Children 
of their owne lyveing at the tyme of their decease to gyve their said goods unto. 


1638. 
“The names of all those poore people w‘ are nowe put into the said Almshouse 
to dwell there viz. George Robyns and Welthyan his wife, John Alford and his 
wife, Thomas Allen and his wife, Robte Rake thelder and his wife, Willm Olliffe 


and Ann his wife, Christofer Casse and his wife, Honnor Browne, John Alferd and 
his wife, Elizabeth Kendell, Edward Lawrance.”’ 


The report of the Charity Commissioners (1836) says :— 


“The whole almshouse has constantly been occupied by four poor families of 
the parish of Mere, each family having one room below and one above. There 
is no ground belonging to it. The poor families are appointed by the overseers. 
When the families put in are diminished by going out to service, death, or other- 
wise, they are removed and otherwise provided for, and their place supplied by 
others more numerous. The parish repair the house, which is now in good 
condition. The inmates are entirely supported out of the rates.” 


The old almshouse having become untenantable and ruinous some 
twenty years ago, the site and materials thereon were sold by order 
of the vestry and £20—the proceeds of the sale—was invested in 
the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds at the Bank of England 
in 1880. This sum, with the interest accumulated, is now amalga- 
mated with other minor charities. 


Mere Forest Cuariry. 


This charity consists of about eighty acres of land in the parish 
of Gillingham, on which a farm-house and homestead were erected 
in 1857. These lands were given as compensation for the surrender 


308 Notes on the History of Mere. 


of certain rights of common which the poor of the parish of Mere 
had over the disafforested forest of Gillingham. 

The articles of agreement by which this property was allotted to 
the poor of Mere are dated 30th January, 1651. It is vested in 


thirteen trustees, 


“and when eight of them shall bee dead, then the survivors of them shall convey 
and assigne the said Fowerscore Acres of Land to the use of themselves and of 
eight others of the most ablest and discretest Inhabitants of Mere aforesaid such 
as they shall make choyce of and of theire Heires and Assignes for ever. Upon 
the like trust and for the intents and purposes aforesaid and upon noe other 


rr”? 


trust nor for any other Intent or purpose whatsoev’. 


According to the original deed the income is to be appropriated 


“for the better relieving of the poor from time to time inhabiting Mere in such 
manner as the trustees shall in their discretion think fit.” 


The following letter, from among the papers at Zeals House, is 
printed in Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, Sept., 1897 :— 


“ Mere 23 Martij 1651. 

‘“ Sr 
“There is nowe in agiticon a business concerning o' pish wherein yo" 
are concerned the state whereof I thought fitt to represent unto yo" w is thus. 
Vpon the disafforestacon of the Forrest of Gillingham there was an allowance of 
100 acres layd out for the Freehold"s and Comon of the Mannor of Mere, w°" 
was enioyed w" the rest of the Comons ever sithince that tyme, w° was about 
27 veres past. In the tyme of the troubles some of the enclosures of the Forrest 
were throwne open and ypon the late reenclosure, the Inh’itants of the pish 
laboured to have some further allowance and intrusted me in the busines whoe 
travelled therein, & vpon search found in the Articles annexed to the Comision 
for disafforestacon a clause, that care should be taken for the poore of Mere (who 
formerly had a greate pt of their maineten’nce out of the Forrest) in regard that 
vpon the improvement & enclosure they were wholely cast vpon the pish, and 
vpon treatye w' the owners of the Forrest and in fine, I concluded with them 
for 80 acres in satisfaccon of that clause in the Articles and soe agreed to accept 
of those 80 acres (to be imployed for the comfort and releife of the Poore) and 
the 100 acres (formerly layd out for Comon) in lieu and full satisfaccon for all 
claymes in the Forrest as well for Comm" as for Poore : this the pishioners of 
all sorts well approued and desired me to gett setled w°' I putt in order; but 
when the tyme of setlem' came, some few of the pish (w‘" made greate vse of 
the Comons) would not agree to the Enclosure vnlesse the 80 acres (gotten ypon 
the interest of the Poore) might be vsed in comon as well as the 100 acres 
allowed to the Comon' although it was expressely allowed to the pish for the 
better support of the poore, and agreed to be he/é (?) inclosed and made vse of 
for that purpose. And by meanes of this vnworthy opposicon of some ynworthy 


By T. H. Baker. 309 


_-psons against their owne expresse consents and Agreem'‘* some p"*iudice is likely 
to befall the pish, if the business be not wholely lost. 

“Nowe for that the matter is of greate considericon the land being of 
estimacon worth 50! p an, to be setled vpon the pish for ever, by the good 
imploymt whereof the growth of pou’ty (so much threatned) wilbe prevented, 
: and the poore so well pvided for, that the burthen will be much eased, and 
the poore people in farre better condicon, therefore I resolue to ioyne w'* many 
more of the more substantiall pt, and endeauo" to settle this (soe beneficiall a 
busines) vpon the pish for the releife of the poore, though it cost some charge 
w™ I suppose shall not be much and should be glad if y’. selfe for y" interrest 
would ioyne w*" vs, for whome I shalbe carefull as for my selfe : the obiecons 
that are made are 2. 

“1. They say it ought to lye in Comon: to w™ there is an answare before ; 
and in truth, increase of Comons doe increase, not lessen poore, in my ob- 
servacon. 

“2. They say, if it be held inclosed, then Zeales that haue noe Comons, will 

haue a benefitt by lessening of the charge of the poore. this is answered 
thus, that this being allowed for the better support of the poore of the pish, 
it is greate reason that all those who did beare pt. of the charge should 
pticipate of the releife. Zt 
“Sr, my cosen Chafins desires runing along w'" my own inclynacons hath 
given you the trouble of this Informacon. My pticular interest lyes all along 
wt those opposers but the right lying otherwise, must make me leave them ; 
I wish yo" would lend y* assistance, the busines much deserves it in y° 
judgemt of 


S$". yor most humble Serv' Rico: GREENE.” 


(Addressed) “To his very much honoured ffriend Richard Maijor Esq‘ these 
present at Hursley.” 


Sir Hueu Wrynpuam’s Cuariry. 


Sir Hugh Wyndham by his last will and testament, dated 21st 
day of April, 1680, gave to the poor of the parish of Mere the sum 
of ten shillings yearly for ever out of his lands in that parish, and 
willed that the said sum of ten shillings should be yearly paid and 
distributed in the said parish upon Christmas Day unto and amongst 
twenty of the poorest sort of people of the said parish in sums of 
sixpence apiece. 


Harpine’s CHariry. 


James Harding, of Mere, gentleman, by his will, dated 16th 
June, 1725, gave to the minister and churchwardens of Mere and 
their successors for ever a rent-charge of fifty shillings out of a 
close called the Grove, being part of the farm called Benjatfield’s, 


510 Notes on the History of Mere. 


lying in the parish of Gillingham, in Dorsetshire, to be by them 
distributed yearly on the Sunday next before Christmas Day, by 
equal portions to such ten poor housekeepers of Mere, not having 
any relief from the said parish, as the minister and churchwardens 
and their successors should direct.. The close called the Grove 
consists of about eight acres of pasture land, now the property of 
Mr. Henry Phillips. 


Mere ALLorMEent CHARITY. 


This charity dates from the Mere Inclosure, 1807—1821. By 
the award the commissioners allotted 


‘© unto and for the vicar, churchwardens and overseers of the Poor for the time 
being of the parish of Mere, to be held and enjoyed by them and their successors 
for ever in trust for the benefit of the poor of the said Parish in such manner 
and under such orders, regulations and restrictions as the said Vicar, Church- 
wardens and Overseers of the Poor of the said Parish for the Time being or the 
major part of them shall from time to time order and direct All that allotment 
or parcel of Land situate at Whitehill Common numbered 939 on the said Map 
containing by admeasurement twenty acres bounded on the North by allotments 
to Mary Burfit and William Wickham, on the East by an allotment to Thomas 
Schutz and the common allotment numbered 940, on the South by Inclosures in 
the parish of Gillingham, and on the West by Huntleford Road.” 


The present rent is £20 per annum. Mr. William Perrett is the 
tenant. It was formerly rented by Mr. George Perrett at £32 per 
annum from 1856 to 1868, then till 1877 at the same rent by the 
present tenant, when it was reduced to £25 and in 1878 to £20. 
In 1826 Mr. Noah March rented it at £17 per annum. 

This charity is distributed every autumn to such poor people as 
do not receive the Forest Charity. 


Berry Burvt’s CHariry. 

Mrs. Betty Butt, of Mere, who died 2nd February, 1818, be- 
queathed £20 for the use of the Salisbury Infirmary, and £20 to 
be laid out in bread and distributed amongst the poor of the town 
of Mere, Zeals, and Mere Woodlands. This bread was accordingly 
distributed amongst the said poor on the 26th February by the 
executrix at the deceased’s late dwelling-house. She also, by her 
will, dated May 8th, 1810, left to her trustees £60 to be invested 


By T. H. Baker. 311 


in Consols for keeping in repair the tomb of her family in the 
churchyard, The interest was paid regularly up to 1863, since 
which time it accumulated till 1897, when it was transferred to the 
vicar and churchwardens for its original intention. 

Sriuv’s Crary. 

Under the East window of the north chantry chapel in Mere 
Church is a tablet inscribed :— 

“Robert Still, Esq., Bequeathed to the Vicar and Church Wardens of this 
Parish for the time being £100 upon trust to be invested in the 3 pr C*. Con*. 
The Interest to be applied in repairing the Vault underneath, the mcnuments 
adjacent, the Iron Railing and the Roof of the Chancel over the Vault; the 
Railing and the Inscriptions to be painted not less than once in every 7 years; 
The overplus to be distributed on the 1st of January in every second year in 
Sums of not less than 2%. 6*. to such old decayed or infirm poor Persons residing 
in this Parish who are considered past their labour and who shall appear to the 
said Trustees to be deserving Objects of Charity. Dr. Thos Tatum Bequeathed 
the Interest of £200 for ever tothe Poor of this Parish for teaching as many 
poor Children to read, write and cast Accompts as that sum will pay for. 

“The Dean of ee ee 
The Vicar of Mere Mis 


Robert Still, Esq., died in May, 1811. 
The £100, after deduction of duty and charges, was in 1813 
invested in Three Per Cent. Consols in the name of the Vicar of 
Mere. 
The Still family came from Grantham, in Lincolnshire. _ John, 
the son of William Still, of Grantham, Esq., was Bishop of Bath 
and Wells, 1592—1607. The Robert Still, Esq., mentioned above - 
was the first of the family who lived at Dean’s Orchard, Mere; he 
married Sarah, daughter of Richard Dickson Skrine, Esq., of 
Warleigh, Somerset. A hatchment is affixed to the south wall of 
the north chantry chapel with the arms of Still impaling Skrine. 
_ The first mention of a Still at Mere is in 1801, although there 
are memorials in the Church dated 177 
In October, 1891, their vault, in the north chapel of the Parish 
Church, was opened and lowered 2ft. 4in., by permission of Captain 
Still, of Seaton, the representative of the family. The following 
ead coffins were found deposited therein; on each was a small 
pper plate inscribed :— 


312 Notes on the History of Mere. 


No. 1 (the southernmost). No. 2. No. 3. 
“1 Sarah Still, “2 Sarah Still Was a small coffin 
of Salisbury Died 10th Feb. without inscription, 
Died 22nd 1789 doubtless that of 
Oct. 1787.” aged 31.” Henry Thomas Still, 
who died 1778, aged 4 months. 
No. 4. No. 5. No. 6. No. 7. 
“ Robert Still, Esq., * Nath. Still, “Dame Ann “ Sr. Matthew 
Died 28th May Died May 22 Andrews Andrews died 
1811, 1790, departed this March 13th 1710, 
Aged 57.” Aged 65.” Life Sept. 30th, in y® 82nd year 
1709 of his age.” 
in y°® 63rd year 
of her age.” 


No. 8 is a coffin placed on that of Sir Matthew Andrews, and has the eshte: 
inscription :— 


“Thomas Hamond 
Gent 
Dyed 
29 Oct. 1730 
Aged 14 years.” 


The Still family lived at Dean’s Orchard, and are still the owners 
on a lease under the Keclesiastical Commissioners, for the life of 
Mr. George Still Law. 

Sir Matthew Andrews, Knt., was owner of Woodlands, where he 
lived. 

Nothing is known of Thomas Hamond, probably he was one of 
the Andrews family, as they held Woodlands till 1753. 

The coffins were not disturbed, and the vault is now over 6ft. in 
height from floor to centre of arch roof. There are steps from the 
chapel floor to the bottom of the vault on the north side. Some 
parts of an ancient doorway were found used in the masonry of the 
vault, which it is conjectured may have formed part of the ancient 
Castle, and been removed from Castle Hill, when the vault was 


built. 


1This Sarah Still was daughter of Dr. Thomas Tatum, of Mere, and wife of 
Nathaniel Still, of Salisbury. 

2 This Sarah Still was daughter of Richard Dickson Skrine, Esq., of Warleigh, 
Somerset, and wife of Robert Still, of Dean’s Orchard, Mere, Esq., son of the 
above Nathaniel and Sarah Still. 


By T. H. Baker. 313 


Waptow’s CHarity. 


John Wadlow, a retired builder, of Mere, who died in 1863, left 
by his will, dated 1858, the sum of £100 less legacy duty, the 
interest of which was to be applied to the use of the National 
Schools. The sum of £96 12s. 11d. Consols is now vested in the 
Official Trustee as representing this charity. John Wadlow also 
left a similar sum for the benefit of the British School in Mere. 
This sum was paid to the treasurer and managers of this school for 
the time being. 


Putiiuies’s CHARITY. 


John Phillips, Esq., late of Chadenwich, who died in 1881, left 
by his will the sum of £800 invested in Consols, to the Vicar and 
_ Churchwardens of Mere ; the interest of £200 to be given to the 
Church Sunday school; the interest of £300 to be distributed in 
blankets to the poor of the parish on St. Thomas’s Day ; the interest 
of £300 to be spent upon the repair of the tomb of his parents and 
sister in the churchyard, and the balance for the repair of the 
Church. 
John Phillips died at Eltham, Kent, 19th December, 1881. 


The following above-named charities, viz., “ Bower’s,” ‘ The 
Almshouse,” “‘ Wyndham’s,” ‘‘ Harding’s,” a portion of “ Still’s,” 
viz., the non-ecclesiastical part, consisting of £71 3s. 8d., and 
Phillips’s blanket charity were consolidated by an order of the 
Charity Commissioners in 1897 as an amalgamated charity scheme. 


Miss Grove’s LeGacigs. 


A tablet in the south chantry chapel of Mere Church contains 
the following inscription :— 


“Miss Julia Elizabeth Chafyn Grove, late of Zeals House, who died on the 
27th day of November, 1891, gave the following charities to local objects :— 

* To the Dorcas Society in Mere, the sum of £50. To the Vicar of Mere, the 
Rector of Zeals, and the Churchwardens money sufficient to produce annually 
£120 sterling, to be paid by equal half-yearly payments to the Vicar of Mere for 
‘the time being so long as he shall keep two Curates, and in default to the 
Diocesan Poor Benefice Augmentation Fund for the Diocese of Salisbury, to be 
applied for the purpose of such society. 


314 Notes on the History of Mere. 


“To the Bishop of the Diocese for the time being, the Archdeacon of Sarum 
for the time being, and the Rector of Zeals, as trustees, the sum of £12,000, to 
pay of the income £200 per annum to the incumbent of Zeals and the remainder 
to the Vicar of Portisham. 

“To the Vicar and Churchwardens of Sedghill the sum of £100, the income 
to be applied to the Sedghill Clothing Club, and if no club existed, then in 
clothing and coal for the poor of Sedgehill. 

“To the Rector and Churchwardens of Silton £150 in trust, the interest to be 
shared equally and annually between the Silton Clothing Club and the Silton 
Coal Club. 

“To the Rector and Churchwardens of Zeals £400 in trust, the interest to be 
applied as required for keeping the Alms Houses at Zeals and the fences, gates, 
and walls in repair and order. 

“To the Rector and Churchwardens of Zeals as follows, the interest to be 
applied annually, £100 Zeals Clothing Club, £100 Zeals Coa] Club, £100 Zeals 
Sunday School (to be spent in prizes annually). 

“To the Rector and Churchwardens of Zeals £500, the interest to be applied 
in supplying the choir with necessary service books and music and for keeping 
the surplices and cassocks in decent order and supplying new ones when 
necessary. 

“To the Rector and Churchwardens of Zeals £1000 in Consols to form an 
endowment, to pay out of the income the organists of Zeals Church £25, the 
surplus of income, if any, to repair or improvements in the organ.” 


This tablet was placed in the chantry chapel of St. Mary, Mere 
Church, by Miss C. Bazeley, a personal friend of Miss Grove, 
August, 1893. 


Losr CHARITTEs. 


Tarum’s CHARITY. 

Thomas Tatum, Esq., M.D., late of the Close, Salisbury, by his — 
will, dated 15th January, 1765, gave, immediately after his sister 
Sarah Still’s decease, the interest of £200 for ever, as stated on a 
tablet in the north chantry chapel, and appointed the Dean of 
Salisbury and the Vicar of Mere, for the time being, to be always 
trustees for the same; but in case any public school or charity ‘ 
should be erected at any future time in the town of Mere, then the 
trustees should have the power of applying the £200 for the use 
thereof. £10 was for many years paid annually as interest toa — 
schoolmaster at Mere by Robert Still, Esq., of that place. No | 
public school having been established, the £10 was paid for teaching 


By T. H. Baker. 315 


poor children, and Mr. Tryon Still, as his father’s heir, claimed the 
right of selecting the master or mistress and of paying the £10 
yearly to any master or mistress in Mere for instructing as many 
children as he thought fit. or many years the number was ten, 
always boys, who were sent to any master or mistress keeping school 
who would undertake to instruct them for the money. Their age 
when sent was from 8 to 13, and they remained about three years. 
The schoolmaster for many years was Charles Glover, who had from 
twenty to thirty other scholars. After the National School was 
established the £10 was paid annually up to 1861, to the funds of 
that institution by the Still family, as the representatives of Dr. 
Tatum, since which date payment has been refused, and the £200 
never having been invested the charity is lost. 


Micuat Harprinea’s Grrr. 


Michal Harding, spinster, by her will, dated 24th March, 1736-7, 
desired that £30 might be settled and the interest paid to six old 
maids of Mere, a crown each. The capital sum was never settled, 
but her sister, Ann Kitcatt, paid £1 10s. yearly out of a close of 
ground situate at a place called the Sands, in Warminster, and her 
successors, by an indenture, dated 21st December, 1788, conveyed 
to Henry Hindley and Stephen Butt, of Mere, the said land, with 
this condition, that the 30s. was to be paid for ever on the 25th of 
_ December, yearly to six old maids of Mere. Mr. Hindley received 
the annuity up to the end of 1807, and distributed it accordingly. 
The lands were then sold, and the purchaser—Harriet Reeves— 
_ refused to pay the rent-charge because the deed creating it was not 
enrolled and therefore it could not be enforced. 


Srr Marruzew AnprReEws’ CuHariry. 


Sir Matthew Andrews’ Knt., who died 1711, left by will an 
estate at Wolverton, in the parish of Mere, then valued at £50 per 
annum, for the endowment of a free school, but his son, Mr. Henry 
Andrews, availed himself of the Act of Mortmain and refused to 
-earry out his father’s wish. Sir Matthew Andrews erected a school- 
hhouse in the town of Mere, and Mr. John Hill was appointed 


316 Notes on the History of Mere. 


schoolmaster at a salary of £25 per annum. Mr. Henry Andrews 
paid the salary till 1716, and repaired the schoolroom, when he 
withdrew the salary. The case was laid before James Kdgill by 
Mr. Hill, who was of opinion that he had no right to withdraw the 
salary, but Mr. Andrews availed himself of the plea of mortmain. 
The commissioners in their report say :— 

* After a minute inquiry into all the circumstances relating to the school, we 
could discover no facts nor any trace of any deed or paper likely to lead in any 
way to the recovery of the charity. 

“Several persons now living (1836) remember to have seen the ruins of the 


school or school-house; but the site together with the garden adjoining have 
been disposed of repeatedly to bond-fide purchasers for their full value.” 


At present (1897) no one knows where the school was situated. 


Dycxr’s CHariry. 

1621. This consisted of £42, left by Alice Dycke, of which £37 
was to be used for clothing the poor of the parish. The money 
appears to have been distributed by the Rev. Thomas Chafyn, D.D., 
vicar, the churchwardens, and others. It appears to have been paid 
to Randoll Baron, who died without having paid it over to the 
parish. In 1633 his widow paid £32 in full discharge of the legacy 
of £42 by Alice Dycke. Subsequently it seems that the remaining 
£10 was paid to the parish officers, but what became of the money 
there is nothing to show. 


Baron’s CHARITY. 


In 1662 a commission was held at Mere, enquiring into such 
monies as had been detained by Mrs. Baron, of London, and Mrs. 
Baron, of Mere. The jury having been sworn and charged, upon 
sufficient evidence given them, found upon their oaths that Mrs. 
Baron, of London 

“‘Oweth, and is to pay to the Company of Cloth Workers, London, as Executrix 
to her husband Christopher Baron, the sum of £100, out of which the said Cloth 


Workers are to pay for the use of the poor of Mere aforesaid at St. Andrew’s 
Day yearly to the world’s end, the sum of £5.” 


The money appears to have been paid to the Cloth Workers’ 


— — oe « 


‘ 


ograved by S.J.Lander, 


“14 


Drawn by Jos Lander. 


: 
: 


By T, H. Baker. 317 


Company, but no payment by them for the use of the poor of Mere 
can be traced since 1636. 


TRADESMEN’s TOKENS. 
The following were issued by Mere tradesmen :— 

(1) Obverse. tHOMAS GAMBLIN=1665 4d. 
Reverse. 1N MEERE=1.G. 

(2) O. RicHARD prrmAN=A man making candles jd. 
R, oF MEERE. 1669=R.1.P. 

(3) O. ROBERT ; PITTMAN : OF=HIS HALFE PENNY. 4d. 

MEERE : DRAPER : 1668=The Drapers’ Arms. 


R 
(4) O. wiLLIAM roGGERS=A horse ambling. 4d. 
R. 1N: MEERE: 1666=w.R. conjoined. 


Tue Market Howse. 


The Market House, which stood in the middle of the town, was 
demolished in 1863, and the present Clock Tower was erected on 
its site in 1868. It was a medieval structure of two stories. The 
ground-floor consisted of the Market House proper, and had 


originally two arches on each side open to the street. Above this 


was an upper chamber, the Court House of the Duchy of Cornwall. 
This room is often mentioned in the churchwardens’ book ; some- 
times it is called the “‘ Cross House,” or “‘ Cross Loft,’’ ! sometimes 
the “ Guildhall Chamber.” In the early years of this century 
it was used as a schoolroom ; here Charles Glover educated the boys 
under Tatum’s Charity, and Mr. W. Barnes in 1823 kept his 
school when he first came to Mere, succeeding a Mr. Robertson. 


THe Cuurcu House. 
This building stood in a dilapidated condition on what is now 


the playground attached to the National Schools till 1890. _ From 


1The cut of the “Cross Loft” is a reproduction of a woodcut in the Gentle- 
man's Magazine, circa 1825. 

The illustration of the Market Place and Market House is a full-size re. 
production of an old print, engraved by 8. J. Lander after Josh. Lander, circa 
1830—40. 

YOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVIII. Z 


318 Notes on the History of Mere. 


entries in the churchwardens’ book it appears to have been built 
about 1580. 

A window and pointed doorway which belonged to it are still to 
be seen at Mrs. Gilmore’s, whither they were removed when the 
building was destroyed. 

In 1568 is this 

“Memorandum. That this Daie Willm Tovy came before the whole pishioners 
at this accompt. And declared that Thomas Luke of Wolverton at the tyme of 
his death gave towards the building of a Church house for the pish of Meere 


xxs. And hath pmised to stay soe much of Luke’s goods w‘>.remayne in the 
keeping of Willm Lucas of Wolverton.” 


1569 :-— 


“Md. That Andrewe Bere of Silton and John Robyns Executors of Thomas 
Lyke and his wife have assented at this day, That xxs. w™ the said Thomas gave 
to the building of a Church house, and rem’ now in the hands of Willm Lucas, 
shall be deliv’d to the Church wardens, and shall rem’ to the use and pfitt of the 
Church untill the Church house be builded And Thomas Luke, of Stapulford 
another executor consenteth to the same at the Accompt vij°? Aprilis Ano 1572.” 


1574 :-— 


* At this Accompt came Richard Cowley and declareth that Joane Cowley 
widdowe his mother deceased hath gyven by her last will xxd. towards the 
building of a Church house at Meere, whensoeu’ it shalbe builded, w°" money the 
gaid Richard pmiseth to see paied at all tymes.” 


1580 :-— 


“Alsoe they are charged w'® xx! by them received of Leonard Cowley for a 
legacie given to the Church by Joane Cowley his mother xxd.” 


Tue ReaIsters. 


These date from 1561. There is but little noteworthy in them. 
The following items are of interest :— 


“1649 was great death in the months of September, October and November. 
In those months the burials were 12, 15, and 8 respectively. Total 35.” 


1643. April Robert Jennings gent, and Penelope his wife confirmed their 
first marriage by a second on the 13th.” 


1655. Robert Debnam of ffroome and Juddith Reade of y* parrish of Dever 
Longbridge in this County was published three severall market Daies ffebruary 
the 5th, and the 12th. and y* 19th.” 


By T. H. Baker. 319 


“1656. William Gray and Mary Ambros of Semly was published 3 market 
daies May y° 6th and y° 13 & y* 20".” 

“Thomas Baker y* Sonne of Maior Baker of Shaston and Dorothy Morgan, 
widdow gent was published three severall Lord’s daies May the 11", the 18th 
and the 25th. 


Many more similar entries follow. What is remarkable in them 
is that the inhabitants of Mere are invariably published on the 
Lord’s Day, whilst those published on market days are described 
as of other parishes. 


Pracr Resorcines, 1814. 


“A festival in celebration of the peace commenced at Mere on Thursday, 11th 
August, and continued four days. On the first day a dinner of roast beef and 
plum pudding, with good strong beer was served up in a large field at the foot 
of Castle Hill, to nearly 2000 persons. The most respectable part of the 
inhabitants dined in a pavilion, and the poorer part were regaled at tables in 
front of it. In the afternoon there were rustic amusements, and a dance on the 
green in which all classes joined. On the second day there was a grand match 
of singlestick, which was well contested, though chiefly by young players ; and 
in the evening there was a ball at the Ship, which was attended by more than 
100 respectable people of the town and neighbourhood. On Saturday the plentiful 
remains of Thursday’s dinner was distributed amongst the poor; and in the 
afternoon, there was a match of singlestick, with other amusements. On Sunday 
after evening service, the principal inhabitants met again in the pavilion, and 

_ the ladies were regaled with tea, syllabub, &c. The whole was extremely well 
conducted, and it is impossible that anything could exceed the harmony and 
happiness which prevailed during the whole four days.” (Salisbury and 
Winchester Journal, Aug., 1814.) 


GAMES AND Sports. 


Mere was a noted centre for “Fives” playing. The Church 
tower at one period formed the “ Fives Court.”” The churchwardens’ 
book again gives us this information :— 


“1691. Itm. for casting the earth abroad in the fives place.” 


q ~ ©1705. Itm. sold to Philip Strong jun the whole intire seat 
under the Little ffives place window for his ite} 00. 02. 00” 
and paid for y® same 


“ Paid for mending y* fives place windowe. 00. 04. 00” 


Fives continued to be a popular game long after this. A very 
Zz 2 


320 Notes on the History of Mere. 


grand and substantial court has only been destroyed within the last 
twenty years; part of the wall still stands at the back of the Angel 
Inn. Old men can remember when it was well patronised. 


Tur Horst Rack on Mere Down. 


Sir R. C. Hoare gives full details of two days’ racing here in 
1733, which was patronised by all the leading men of the neigh- 
bourhood. 


BULL-BAITING. 


This sport was indulged in up to the beginning of this century. 
“The Bull Ring” retains its name at the present day. It is 
situated on the western side of the Castle Hill. Old men, living 
within the last ten years, could recollect an old woman, named 
Betty Dolby, called “ Bull-riding Betty,” who used to ride the bull 
to the scene of its torture. 


CouRSING, 


Mere Down was from time immemorial noted as being a centre 
for coursing. Thirty years ago it was the head-quarters of the 
Mere Down Coursing Club, when for a few years it attained great 
notoriety, but these days of wire fencing have entirely abolished it. 


Since Strick PLayIne. 


“The Annual Single Stick playing will take place at Mere on Tuesday, the 
19th instant for a Purse of Twenty Sovereigns, play to commence at ten o’clock 
in the forenoon precisely. Great encouragement will be given to young Players,” 

“ Ordinaries will be provided at the Ship, Angel, and George Inns at two 
o'clock.” (Salishury and Winchester Journal, May 18th, 1829.) 


MARKETS. 


In 1408 Henry IV. granted a charter for a market to be held at 
Mere on Wednesdays; to what proportions it attained there is no 
evidence to show, but it appears to have died out at the close of the 
last century, when an attempt was made to revive it, as appears by 
the following advertisement in the Salisbury Journal, 30th De- 
cember, 1799 :— 


By T. H. Baker. 321 


* Mere Dec, 1799 
A Toll Free Market 
for 
Corn and Cattle 
Sanctioned by the Hon. Sir John Morshead, Bart. Surveyor General to his Royal 
Highness the Prince of Wales, Lord of the Manor. 

“Notice is hereby given to the Public in general. That a large Market will 
commence on Tuesday, the 7th day of January, 1800. 

“T, Giles Jupe, Bailiff of the Manor and Lessee of the Tolls of Mere Market 
and Fairs do hereby promise that I will not exact or take any Toll for Corn or 
Cattle of any kind. 

“N.B.—A good Ordinary at one o’clock, at the Ship Inn.” 


1817. A meeting was held at the Ship Inn, at Mere, on 9th 
December, to consider the advantages that would arise from having 
a pitched corn market at Mere every Tuesday. This was supported 
by all the leading agriculturists in the district, and for a time was 
a great success, Mere, being midway between the Radstock collieries 
and the arable lands of Dorset, served as a depot for coal and 
meeting-place for the farmers’ waggons and those of the colliers. 
It grew in importance for three or four years, after which it 
gradually declined till in the forties and fifties it was simply a pig 
market; and when in 1866 restrictions were placed on the move- 
ment of these animals it disappeared altogether. In 1896 an 
attempt was made to revive it, but without success. 

The fairs have also gradually become extinct within the memory 
of man. 

Before the days of railways Mere was in the direct road from 
London to Exeter, and a considerable number of coaches passed 
through the town daily after the shorter route vid Andover, 
Amesbury, Hindon, Mere, Wincanton, Ilchester, and Honiton was 
established. 

CuRFEW. 

The curfew bell is rung at Mere at 8 o’clock every night from 
St. Luke’s Day (18th October), to St. Matthias’ Day (24th 
February). 

At the beginning of the eighteenth century for a few years we 


find in the churchwardens’ book entries for “ Ringing the Six 
o'clock bell.” 


322 Notes on the History of Mere. 
ZEALS TITHING. 


This tithing consists of the whole of the western side of the 
parish, and was originally composed of two manors, viz., Zeals 
Ailesbury, or Higher Zeals, and Zeals Clevedon, or Lower Zeals. 
The descent of these manors from early times till the advent of the 
Chafyn family was exhaustively detailed in an article by John 
Batten, Hsq., in this Magazine, vol. xxviii., pp. 208—210. 

We have previously stated that Zeals is now formed into a 
separate parish for both ecclesiastical and civil purposes. 

In 1258 Richard de Seles was one of the four knights re- 
turned for the County of Wilts. 

1292, Walter de Ailesbury had a grant of the manor of Over 
Seles from Edmund, Duke of Cornwall. 

1361, Thomas Lord Berkeley, died; he married for his second 
wife Catharine, daughter of Sir John Clivedon,! and by her had 
issue Sir John Berkeley, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir 
of John Bettisthorne, of Chadenwich, from which union descended 
the Berkeleys of Beverston, in Gloucestershire. Sir John Berkeley 
was born 1351 and died 1418. 

1413, messuages in both Over Sells and Netherselles, as well as in 
Mere Woodlands, are named amongst the lands of William Lord 
Stourton, who died that year. 

“1558.  Sealys Aylesbury de manibus Regis et Reginz amovendis. De 
manerio de Sealys Aylesbury quod fuit Caroli nuper Domini Stourton de felonia 
attincti ac Thome Chafyn, arm. liberando Michelis recorda 4 et 5 Phil et Marie 
Rotul 193. Ibidem de Situ Monasterii de Sealys Aylesbury. (Hoare, Hund. 
of Mere, p. 201.) 

Domesday Book gives the earliest information we have of this 
manor :— 

*Tand of Gozelin Riveire. l 

“Gozelin Riveire holds sete of the King. Almar held it in the time of 
King Edward and it paid geld for 23 hides. The land is 3 carucates. In 
demesne is 1 carucate and 2 serfs; and there are 5 villans and 3 coscets, with 2 
carucates. There is a mill paying 40 pence and 3 acres of meadow. The pasture 
is 3 furlongs long and 3 broad. The wood is half a mile long and as much broad. 
It was and is worth 30 shillings.” 


1 The family of Clevedon was located at Zeals before the Chafyns. 


By T. H. Baker. 323 


“ Land of Odo and other of the King’s Thanes. 

“Alvied holds sgxa. In the time of King Edward it paid geld for 23 hides. 
The land is 3 carucates. In demesne is 1 carucate and there are 4 serfs and 8 
villans and 9 bordars with 2 carucates. There is a mill paying 3 shillings and 
4, acres of meadow and 40 acres of pasture. The wood is half a mile long and 
half a mile broad. It is worth 30 shillings.” 


The present area of Zeals is over 1500 acres, so the whole of the 
parish, as now constituted, could not have been included in the 
return. We find that the Duke of Cornwall at one time held lands 
here, so that—as at Mere—probably the Crown property was not 
assessed for ‘‘ Dane geld.” The mills have disappeared, and their 
site is not known. There is a stream between Zeals and Penselwood, 
and another at Wolverton, of sufficient volume to drive a mill, and 
probably one existed at each of these places. A wood, called 
Norwood, still exists of about the extent of one of those named, 

but of the other no trace is left. 

1533. Thomas Chafyn had a grant of the parsonage and tithes 
of Mere for sixty years. Between this Thomas Chafyn and the 
Lord Stourton there was a deadly feud. 

1550. Lord Stourton sent notice to Mr. Chafyn to give up 
possession of the demesne lands in Mere. 

1551. Thomas Chafyn had a grant of 200 acres of land in Mere 
for twenty-one years from King Edward VI., when Lord Stourton 
and his agents forcibly seized Mr. Chafyn’s sheep on the demesne 
lands of the manor of Mere, which were driven to Stourton House 
and impounded. On May 16th :— 

“John Blandford, Richard Mackhill and eight others armed with weapons 
assaulted Leonard Chafyn, Thomas Horton and Robert Clemente beating, 
manassing and mis-entreating them; taking from them one ferratte, one iron 
barre, a bagge, a bottle, a purse conteyning ixs. in money and one plowme of 
feathers; and did also carry away the said Leonard Chafyn &c. against their 
will to the mansion house of Lord Stourton, where they were shut up in a prison 
in the house for some days and were afterwards released, July 12th. Other 
servants of Lord Stourton armed with weapons entered the demesne lands of Mere 
and took prisoner Thomas Hopkins shepherd to Mr. Chafyn and carried him to 
Stourton House and kept him in prison some days. August 12th. They again 
went to the folds of Mr. Chafyn and took 240 sheep which they drove to Lord 
Stourton’s grounds and by his command proclaimed them in the markets as 


strayers and still detained them. August 22nd. Lord Stourton attended by his 
men armed entered the demesne and drove out 1000 sheep of Chafyn’s and 


324 Notes on the History of Mere. 


impounded them. Mr. Chafyn served a replevy for their delivery in spite of which 
they were detained. August 24th. Lord Stourton and his servants entered the 
barley fields and carried away 40 loads of barley and innyd it. They further 
threatened the sayde T. Chafyn at any time to’slaye, kill and hurt hym, hys 
sonnes or servaunts if they were taken upon the sayd demesne lands.’ (Wilts 
Arch. Mag., viii., 305.) 


The explanation of these riotous proceedings is that Lord 
Stourton’s father had a lease of the demesne lands of Mere in 1544 
from King Henry VIII., which was confirmed. This led toa 
lawsuit with Mr. Chafyn, who was in possession of the said lands, 
and who claimed the same as a grant from the Duchy of Cornwall 
to him under another lease made by Prince Edward as Duke of 
Cornwall. 

1553. Charles Lord Stourton had the lease of the manor of 
Mere renewed to him for forty years. 


“He caused a barne of Thomas Chaffyn to bee sett on fyer by iij of his 
servantes; agaynst which Chaffyn for that he sayed yt was not doon withowte 
the knowledge of the saide Lorde Stourton or of some of his servantes, Lord 
Stourton tooke an action and recovered of him £100 damage for the payment of 
which he took owte of Chaffyn’s pastures by force 1200 sheepe with the woll 
uppon their backes, all the oxen, kyne, horsses and mares that he coulde fynde 
in the said pastures. (Strype’s Historical Memorials.) 


The last of the Chafyns at Zeals was William Chafyn, Esq., who 
was Sheriff of Wilts 1685. He died 1695. His daughter Mary 
married John, son of Hugh Grove, of Chisenbury, Co. Wilts, which 
Hugh was beheaded at Exeter, 1655, pro rege et lege. The Zeals 
estate thus passed to the family of Grove, in whom it has since 
remained, its present owner being George Troyte Chafyn Grove, 
Esq. 

William Chafyn, Esq., who died 1695, left two sons, who died s.p. 

Rey. Richard Chafyn was Vicar of Mere from 1556 to 1586; 
Rey. Thomas Chafyn, D.D., from 1630 to 1645. 


CHARITIES. 

In Mere churchyard is a tomb of the Ford family, who resided 
at Zeals. Their house was situated at the edge of the parish near 
what is now called “ Ford’s Water.” They were Bristol 
merchants in the Russian trade, probably flax and hemp, which 


By T. H. Baker. 325 


were manufactured in this locality. On one compartment of the 
tomb is inscribed :— 
“In Ccelo quies 
James Ford 
Son of John and Mary Ford 
who died Noy. 6th, 1802 
Aged 58 years, 
and by his will he gave £100 for 
apn organ for the adjoining church 
£10 for the Salisbury Infirmary 
and £10 to the second poor of the 
Hamlet of Zeals.’’ 


This was distributed in bread shortly after his death. 


ZEALs CHURCH. 

In 1220 Dean Wanda’s Inventory mentions a chapel at Seles 
dedicated to St. Martin, and Mr. Batten, in his documentary history 
of Zeals, Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xxviii., p. 210, states that in 27 
Elizabeth, 1585, “ All that the Free Chapel with one fourth of an 
acre of land north of the Chapel situate in Zeals Clivedon,”’ was 
granted to Edward Morrice and James Mayland from whom it 
came to the Chafyns. All traces of this chapel have disappeared, 
and there is no tradition as to its site. ; 

The following appeal to the public was made in 1845, and the 
result was that a new Church was erected at Zeals Green. It was, 
like its predecessor, dedicated to St. Martin. 


Proposal for the erection of a Chapel of Ease, Parsonage House, and School 
on Zeals Green, Wilts, estimated cost about £3000. 

* Zeals is a hamlet of Mere, a poor manufacturing town in the south-western 
part of the county of Wilts. The benefice is a vicarage of the small value of 
£200 per annum under the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean of Salisbury. 

The population of the parish is about 3200, for the most part in great poverty. 
The poor-rate during the last year amounted to more than £2000. In respect of 
Church accommodation it is believed that the parish of Mere, with its hamlets, 
is one of the most destitute in the diocese of Salisbury, affording church room 
for less than one fifth of its inhabitants. 

“The population of the hamlet of Zeals, where it is proposed to erect the 
Chapel of Ease, amounts to nearly 600 souls, distant, for the most part, from 
their parish Church between two and three miles. 

“The Chapel is intended to accommodate 300 persons, the whole of the sittings 
being free and unappropriated, and a gallery may be hereafter added to ac- 
commodate 50 more persons. 


326° Notes on the History of Mere. 


“The cost of the edifice, with its fences, conveyance of site, &c., will be £1990,. 
exclusive of the repair-fund of £5 per cent. on the outlay, and of the endowment, 
which it is hoped may be principally supplied by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 
into whose hands the great tithes will eventually fall. 

“It is proposed to erect a National School for the education of the poor children 
of the district forthwith, and as soon as the necessary funds can be raised, a 
house of residence for the officiating minister ; the former will cost about £200, 
towards which the Committee of Council and other Public Boards will probably 
contribute £100, the latter £800, towards which the Church Union Society of the 
Diocese of Salisbury has given £100 and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners may 
be expected, as soon as they have funds at their disposal, to contribute £400 
[Then follows a list of subscriptions, amounting to £2335 4s. 6d.] 


The Church was designed by Messrs. Scott & Moffatt, and 
executed by Mr. C. Kirk, of Sleaford, the builder of the Martyr’s 
Memorial in Oxford. It was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of 
Salisbury on the 14th May, 1846. 

The first stone was laid on the 11th September, 1845, on a site 
presented by His Grace the Duke of Somerset, and bore the fol- 
lowing inscription :— 

“Tn honorem 
Dei Omnipotentis, Sanctissimze et Individuze Trinitatis 
Ecelesize Sancti Martini in Zeals 
Angularis hicce lapis positus est 


Anno Salutis mpccextLy. 
Opus benedicat Deus per Jesum Christum.” 


The Church is in the Decorated style, and is built of stone 
quarried in the neighbourhood with dressings of Bath Oolite. The 
seats are “free and unappropriated for ever.” It affords aceommo- 
dation for three hundred persons. 

The cost of the edifice with its fences, conveyance of site, &e., 
was about £2000. In 1876 Miss Julia E. Chafyn Grove spent 
nearly £1000 in the erection of a spire, the addition of six bells, 
an organ, and outlay on the roof and chancel. 


Wotverron Howe 


is an artificial cavern, excavated for the purpose of quarrying the 
greensand stone, which is admirably adapted for building. Tradition 
says that that used about Mere Church was obtained from this 
source, but the amount of stone of this character there used would 


By T. H. Baker. 527 


only account for a small portion of the quantity which was extracted 
here. The workings extend underground to a considerable distance ; 
the exact extent cannot at present be accurately ascertained, many 
of the compartments being filled with the debris which has accumu- 
lated from the process of quarrying. The roof is supported by 
pillars hewn out of the natural formation. From the entrance to 
the end of the workings, now accessible, must be at least 200 yards. 


OVERSEERS OF THE Poor. 


[Originally only two were appointed, but from 1794 to 1895 there were in- 


variably three, one for each of the tithings—the Town, Woodlands, and Zeals. | 


1797 


James Burfitt 


John Phillips 


1577. | Thomas Watts and Thomas | 1625. | Robte Pitman and Xpofer 
Aborrowe Togood 
1601 | Xpofer Awbrey 1626 | Thomas ffoster and Jobn 
1603 | George Abbott Joupe 
1607 | Willm Guyre of Seales 1627 | James Gamlin and Henry 
Willm Stevens of Meere towne Bourn 
~ 1608 | John Watts and Thomas | 1628 | Robte Ollyver and John 
fforward Glover 
1610 | Edward fforward and Thomas | 1629 | John Kendoll and Richard 
Cowley Swift 
1612 | George Crabbe and John | 1630 | Thomas Cowley shoomaker 
Snooke Willm Hewitt Lynnen wever 
1613 | Jesp. Coward and Willm | 1631 | John Bower gent and Thomas 
Clement ffoster senior 
1614 | Thomas ffoster and Willm | 1632 | Willm Baron gent and Tho- 
Kendoll mas Barter 
1615 | Thomas fforde and John | 1633 | Willm Bishopp gent 
Bowyer Robt. Goldisbrough gent. 
1616 | Thomas Bower and John | 1634 | Henry Tilston and Willn 
Hewett Clement 
1617 | Robt. Clemtand John Crompe | 1635 |, Wolston Illing 
1618 | Leon’de Snoke and James Moses Wilkins Linen weaver 
Morren 1636 | Henry Clarke and Richard 
1619 | John Clemtand John Martyn fisher 
1620 | Thomas Cowley sen' and Tho- | 1637 | Jespar Bannisters and Robte 
mas Cowley, jun. Banuisters 
1621 | W™ fforward 1639 | Nicholas Kendoll 
1622 | Edward ffisher and John Christofer Smart 
fford 1640 | Willm Havell 
1623 | Wolston Illing and Thomas Emanuell Stevens 
Smith 1643 | John Clement 
1624 | Robte fforward and John Richard Shore 
Ball 
Town. Woop.LanDs. ZEALs. 
1794 Stephen Sly Joseph Hawkins William Charlton 
1795 James Fry John Toogood Charles Burfitt 
1796 Aaron Dewduey Edmund Dowding James Ford 


Robert Cross 


328 


1798 
1799 
1800 
1801 
1802 
1803 
1804 
1805 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 
1812 
1813 
1814 
1815 

1816 
1817 
1818 

1819 

1820 
1821 

1822 

1823 

1824 
1825 
1826 

1827 

1828 

1829 
1830 
1831 

1832 

1833 

1834. 
1835 

1836 


1837 
1838 
1839 
1840 
1841 
1842 
1843 
1844. 
1845 
1846 
1847 
1848 
1849 
1850 
1851 
1852 


Notes on the History of Mere. 


Thomas Maidment 
Richard Coleman 
Aaron Dewdney 
Edmund Ford 
Willm Harding 
W™ Wickham 
Thos. Maidment 
James Lander 
Tho®. Moore 
Albin Butt 

Aaron Dewdney 
W™. Harding 
John Jones 

W™. Wickham 
Aaron Dewdeney 
Thomas Hinton 
John Jupe 

Robert Cross 
James Burfitt 
James Lander 
John Mitchell 
John White 

John Burfitt 
William Wickham 
William Wickham 
Samuel Card 
Aaron Dewdney 
James Cousins 
John Lander 
Charles Card 
John Curtis 
James Ford 
James Lander 
Matthew Maidment 
John Coward 
James Dowding 
Thos. Standerwick 
James Down 
Thos. Standerwick 


Uriah Cross 
James Moore 
Harry Wadlow 
Christopher Rose 
John Ford 

Hugh Cross 
Michael Baverstock 
Charles Phillips 
Charles Coward 
Edwin Thompson 
Ropert Dowding 
Charles Jupe 
John Curtis 
John Harding 
James Ayles 
James Webb 


John Ford 

John Toogood 
Stephen Sly 
Richard Taylor 
John Merryweather 
John Merry weather 
Jos". Maidment 
Edward Norris 
Tho*. Taylor 
James Coward 
Tho’. Maidment 
John Lander 

John Phillips 

Jno Phillips 

John Merry weather 
John White 
Thomas Taylor 
Joseph Maidment 
Thomas Maidment 
Henry Jupe 
Thomas Mathews 
John Phillips 
Harry Herrington 


Edward Merry weather 


Richard Mitchell 
Charles Burfitt 
Joseph Maidment 
John Toogood 
Thos. Coleman 
John Wadlow 
Robert Penny Brine 
Henry Jupe, Jr. 
John Jupe 

Thos. Maidment 
William Mathews 
William Keeping 
Henry Jupe 
George Perrett 


James Perman Maid- 


ment 
John Ayles 
Thomas Maidment 
Charles Curtis 
John Phillips, Sen. 
William Down 
Ambrose Butt 
Edmund Lander 


Mrs. Tabitha Toogood 


George Perrett 
William Pike 
William Keates 


Thomas Herrington 


Thomas Jupe 
Richard Mitchell 
Walter Snook 
Peter Maidment 


Robert Cross 
Charles Burtfitt 
Robert Cross 
W™ Forward 
W™ Forward 
Richd. Charlton 
Robert Cross 
Robert Cross 
W. Charlton 
John Burfitt 
W™. Forward 
W™. Hockey 
William Hockey 
W™. Hockey 
John Burfitt 
Richard Charlton 
William Charlton 
John Burfitt 
William Forward 
Rd. Charlton 
William Charlton 
John Burfitt 
Robert White 
John Burfitt 
Robert White 
William Charlton 
John Burfitt 
Thos. Forward 
William Smith 
Isaac Charlton 
Robert Hill 
John Rose Lamperd 
Joseph Read 
Benjamin Parfitt 
John Gifford 
Giles Forward 
John Card Green 
Isaiah Withey 
William Forward 


Philip Markey 
George Maggs 
Joseph Read 
John Lampard 
Martin Charlton 
William Smith 
Christopher Rose 
John Hartgill 
Robert White 
Henry Hart 
William Smith 
Charles Read 
Martin Charlton 
Isaiah Withey 
John Wickham 
Charles Burpitt 


. 
By T. H. Baker. 329 
- 1853 Stephen Welch . Giles Jupe William White 
: 1854 EdwardPaulMitchell John Phillips William White 
1855 EdwardPaulMitchell John Phillips William White 
1856 Charles Lander Thomas Jupe William White 
1857 Charles Lander Thomas Jupe Christopher Rose 
1858 Edgar Lander Giles Jupe John White 
1859 Caleb Curtis Thomas Herrington Christopher Rose 
1860 Charles Jupe John Phillips Christopher Rose 


1861 Thomas Henry Baker Richard Mitchell Christopher Rose 
1862 EdwardPaulMitchell William Mitchell John White 
1863 EdwardPaulMitchell William Mitchell John White 


1864, John Harding Thomas Jupe John White 
1865 Charles Lander Giles Jupe Christopher Rose 
1866 James Lander William Mitchell 
1867 Walter Snook Barnaby Herrington Christopher Rose 
1868 Thomas Standerwick Henry Lander 
1869 George Athoe William Perrett John Hartgill 
1870 George Athoe William Perrett 
1871 George Athoe William Perrett 
1872) William Thomas John Thomas Mitchell Joseph Green 
1873 Standerwick 
1874 Joseph Ball John Thomas Mitchell Joseph Green 
\3 oseph Ball Barnaby Herrington Richard White 
1974 | Charles Read John Jupe Richard White 
ak | Robert Goldsbrough Barnaby Herrington John White 
1881 
1882 J Barnab c 
1883 { James Down arnaby Herrington Joseph Green 
1884, 
1885 Henry Wickham William Sidney White Richard White 
1886 Edwin Bracher William Sidney White Richard White 
1887 William Hacker Clarence E. Rutter John White 
5 William Hacker John Thomas Mitchell John White 
1890 
iso} William Hacker John Thomas Mitchell Arthur Rabbits White 
189 
1893 William Hacker John Thomas Mitchell William John Steeds White 
1894 Thomas Standerwick Sidney Day William John Steeds White 
1895 Thomas Standerwick Edwin Bracher William John Steeds White 
1896 Thomas Standerwick Sidney Day 
1897 Edwin Bracher Sidney Day 
APPENDIX. 


A.—TueE Hotry Loar. 


_ The Holy Bread has nothing sacramental in its nature. It is 
used in the manner of the love feasts of the early Church, as a symbol 


330 Notes on the History of Mere. 


of the fellowship and brotherly love which should exist among all 
who are of the household of faith. Its distribution was once almost 
universal in Western Christendom, and prevailed to some extent 
among the Greeks. The holy bread was sometimes carried home 
by those who received it. It seems to have been held to be a 
religious duty to take holy bread every Sunday. The distribution 
of the panis benedictus was practised in every Church throughout 
the land. In the Constitutions of Giles de Bridport, Bishop of 
Salisbury, in the year 1252 it was decreed that the parishioners 
should provide the holy loaf every Sunday. 

The holy bread was ordinary leavened bread, cut into small 
pieces, blessed, and given to the people after mass. 

The formula for the blessing of holy bread was, in English :— 


“Oh Lord Jesus Christ, the bread of angels, the living bread of eternal life, 
deign to bless this bread as thou didst bless the five loaves in the desert, that all 
who eat thereof may receive from thence health of body and soul.”— Antiquary, 
vol. xvii., p. 192. 


B.—Smoxer FArruinecs. 


In some manors, formerly belonging to religious houses, there is 
still paid, as appendant to the said manors, the ancient Peter’s 
Pence, by the name of smoke money. The Bishop of Lincoln, 
anno 1444, issued out his commission ‘Ad levandum le Smoke 
Farthings, Kc.” 

Lands were held in some places by the payment of the sum of 6d. 
yearly to the sheriff, called Smoke Silver. Pat. 4, Ed. 6. Smoke 
Silver and Smoke Penny are to be paid to the ministers of divers 
parishes, as a modus in lieu of tithe wood (Jacobs’ Law Dictionary). 
The word Fumage has sometimes been used for Smoke Money, 
a customary payment for every house that had a chimney (Jacobs’ 
Law Dictionary). 


WarRANT TO THE StEWARD oF MERE, 1625. 
[From Hoare’s Modern Wilts, Addenda, p. 2.] 


* W™ Whitaker Steward of Mere by the Prince his Counsell &c. 
‘“‘ Whereas we are given to understand that his Ma'* services win y* Manno" 
and hundred of Meere, in the oountie of Wiltes, for want of a Steward to keepe 


7 = os 


By T. H. Baker. 331 


Courts there, is nowe neglected (by reason that the right hono® William Lo 
Pembrooke hath assigned the same office to S' James Fullerton Knight,) Theis 
are therefore to appoint and aucthorise yow William Whittaker esquier foorthw*" 
to keepe such Courts for his Mat* service win the said Manno" and hundred as 
heretofore hath bin usuell, and soe from tyme to tyme hereafter untill further 
order shalbe taken therein. Receavinge suche yearelie allowance and fees as 
hath heretofore bin incident and belonginge to the said office, And in soe doinge 
this shalbe your warr’. From Readinge this 24 November 1625. 
* Yo' verie loveinge Freinds 
“To our verie lovinge freinde (signed) THo, SavAaGE 
William Whittaker, Esq". Henry HoBarte 

Jo. WatteR JA. FULLERTON. 

THo Trevor 

Wat. Pre” 


Warrant anp Survey iv 1650. 
[From Hoare’s Modern Wilts, Hund. of Mere, p. 142.) 


The following warrant was issued to the Bailiff of Mere during 
the Commonwealth :— 


“ By virtue of a Commission to us directed from the Trustees authorised by 
the Commons of England assembled in Parliament for the Sale of Hundreds, 
Manors and Lands heretofore belonging to the Jate King, Queen and Prince in 
pursuance of the said Act. Wee doe hereby require you the Bailiffe of this 
Mannor tosum’on and warn 24 of the ablest Tennants of the said Mannor to 
appear before us at a Court of Survey to be holden upon Tuesday, the 25th of 
this present month, by 9 o’clock in the forenoon at the usual Court House, then 


and there to receive such further order and direction as shall be thought fit in 
that behalfe. 


“* Hereof you are not to fail. 

“Given under our hands and seals the 20th day of June 1650. 
“ HercuLes LANGRIG 
“Wittiam EXBERY 


“ JouNn Fisk.” 
“To William Baron, Bayliffe of the Manor abovesaid, as to his Deputy. These,” 


1650. October 4th. A Survey of the Hundred of Mere, late 
parcel of the possessions of Charles Stewart, Prince of Wales, as of 
the Duchy of Cornwall :— 


“ All the hundred court and bailey wick, with rents, profits commodities Kc. 
value communibus annis £16. leases under the seal of the Duchy to Thomas 
Fisher, ex’or of Thomas Carey esq" dec’d which Mr. Fisher has appointed Rich*. 
Greene gent to be Steward, and Willm Baron gent to be bailiff of the same 
hundred. Presented—that the appointments are void, as the letters patent were 
granted since March 26, 1641.” 


_ Note.—This survey is very long; it gives the names of the 


332 Notes on the History of Mere. 


tenants, leasehold, copyhold, &c., the lands or tenements they held, 
the customs of the manor, «ec. 

Copyholders.—Henry, William, and Thomas Foster, William, 
Helen, and Lionel Baron. Widows hold by widowhood and 


chastity. 

The manor is valued as follows :— £ 8s, d. 
Profits of fairs and markets 713 4 
Reserved rents on leaseholders 33 6 IL 

Sum total of profits £41 0 3 
fae 
Rent of free and copyholders 105 12 44 
Improvement of copyhold estates for 
lives per annum 782 15 8 


Total of future improvements per annum £888 8 1} 


Fines on the manor valued in gross at £640. 
Survey of Mere Farm and demesne :— 
Total of acres, 628a. 2r. 
Improveable value £314 7s. 4d, 


ENCLOSURE OF CoMMONS. 


In the churchwardens’ book is the following entry, dated 1637, 
relating to the measure and allotment of commons at Mere, but 
although the work appears to have been done, no action was taken 
to enclose them till the enclosure at the beginning of this century :— 


* About the moneth of ffebruary in the Thirteenth yeare of the raigne of our 
sovraigne Lord Charles by the grace of God of England, Scotland, ffrance and 
Ireland, King, defender of the ffaith &. Annog in 1637. The Princes Comons 
belonging to his highness Manne of Meere in the Countie of Wilts were all 
exactly measured by the commandment of Sir Charles Herbert and Sir David 
Cunnyngham knights two of the Princes Comissioners sent downe for that 
purpose. And found to be about Six hundred Akers. Whereof was reserved 
for the Princes owne use the Thirde pte thereof being about Two hundred 
akers. That is to say Att Mabourne hill ffower score akers then inclosed 
into one close for the Prince. Att Knowle Threescore and three akers 
likewise then inclosed. All Haycroft being Thirteen akers and likewise then 
inclosed for the Princes use. And alsoe ffortie akers at Whitehill was then 
appoyted by the said Comissioners to be taken in and inclosed at the charge 


. 


By T. H. Baker. 333 


of the parish of Meere for the onlie proper use and benefitt of the poore there 
for ever. And there was likewise then taken in by the said Comissioners 
about ffyve akers at Mabourne hill and lett to ffrancis Chafyn gen. by the 
said Comissioners. And then likewise inclosed at pte of the charges of the 
said ffrauncis Chafyn. All the residue of the said 600 akers is allowed as 
Comon for the Princes highnes Tennts of his said Manno’ and others that 
have right of Comon there. 


PENANCE In 1815. 
Tn the Consistorial Court of Sarum—Coleman v. Coleman. 


“Tn pursuance of the Judgment of the Court obtained in this case, the de- 
fendant Thomas Coleman butcher of Mere in this county, who had falsely and 
maliciously traduced the character of Mrs. Anna Coleman, the plaintiff's wife, 
appeared and performed penance before the congregation in the parish church of 
Mere aforesaid, on Sunday the 10th instant, by repeating the following words. 
‘ Whereas I, Thomas Coleman, have spoken and uttered certain reproachful words, 
tending to defame Anna the wife of Harry Coleman, and to the injury of her 
good name and character, therefore I do now solemnly declare, that such words 
were unadvisedly, wickedly, falsely and slanderously, by me spoken of her, and 
I do ask pardon of God and man, and of the said Anna Coleman for the same.’ ” 
[December, 1815. ] 


Hicks Bracu. 


In 1789 Michael Hicks Beach, Esq., lived at Mere, in the house 
next the private residence of Mr. Walton. The family of Beach 
was settled at Warminster many years. Robert Beche, of War- 
minster, made his will 1519. William, his son, married Jane 
Adlam, of Brixton Deverell, and his successors are described as of 
Brixton Deverell till after the middle of the seventeenth century. 
Thomas Beach, of Keevil and Fittleton, married a sister of James 
Harding, of Mere. He died 1758, and Mrs. Beach, 1735, aged 41. 
They had a son, William Beach, of Netheravon, who was born at 
Mere, 1719, and whose daughter, Henrietta Maria, married Michael 
Hicks, of Beverston Castle and Williamstrip Park, Co. Gloucester, 
who assumed the name and arms of Beach in addition to those of 
Hicks by Royal Sign Manual, 1790. This was the great grand- 
father of the present Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bart. 


Tue Wintoversy Famity. 


Although not resident in this parish till after the sale of the 
VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVIII. 2A 


334 Notes on the History of Mere. 


manor of West Knoyle, yet several of its members are buried in 
the Church. William Willoughby, of Zeals, died 1752, and Virgin, 
his wife, 1737. Their residence was situated at Long Cross, Zeals, 
the site of which is still called “ Willoughby’s.” It was pulled 
down about forty years since. 

Richard Willoughby, who sold the manor and estate of West 
Knoyle to Henry Hoare, Esq., about 1736, is supposed to be the 
person mentioned by Fielding (in Tom Jones) as Justice Willoughby, 
of Knoyle. A branch of this family lived at Silton, Dorset. 

1655. William Willoughby, of Knoyle, Esquire, was one of 
the prisoners committed for trial for taking part in the rising when 
Hugh Grove and Col. Penruddocke were beheaded. Willoughby 
was acquitted. He was then over 70 years of age. 


Grant or GarRDEN AT MERE TO THE DEAN AND CHAPTER 
oF Sarvm.! 


“Sciant presentes et futuri quod nos 
Edmundus clare memorie Ricardi Regis 
Alemannie? filius et comes Cornubie de 
dimus concessimus et hac presenti carta 
nostra confirmauimus deo et Ecclesie 
beate Marie Nouarum Sarum Decano 
et Capitulo loci eiusdem et eorum suc- 
cessoribus, unum Gardinum et paruam 
croftam cum suis pertinentiis una cum 
molendino ad molendum cortices in villa 
de Mere pro quibus Gilbertus le Vynour 
et Willelmus le Bakere tenentes dictum 
gardinum cum crofta predicta et molen- 
dino predicto aliquo tempore annuatim 
viginti tres solidos soluere consueuerunt. 
Que quidem Gardinum et crofta iacent 
iuxta mansum dicti Decani illius ecclesie 
Rectoris ex parte Australi, habendum 
et tenendum predictis ecclesie et Decano 
et Capitulo predictum Gardinum cum 


“ Know all men present and to come 
that we Edmund, son of Richard of 
sacred memory King of Germany and 
Earl of Cornwall have given, granted, 
and by this our present charter 
confirmed to God and the Church of the 
Blessed Mary of New Sarum, to the 
Dean and Chapter of the same place 
and to their successors one garden and 
small croft with their belongings, and 
also a mill for grinding corn in the 
ville of Mere for which Gilbert le 
Vynour and William le Bakere, once 
tenants of the said garden, croft and 
mill were accustomed to pay twenty- 
three shillings annually. Which said 
garden and croft lie adjacent to the 
house of the said Dean, Rector of that 
Church, on the south side. The said 
Church and Dean and Chapter to have 


1 Mr. A. R. Malden, Chapter Clerk, has kindly furnished a copy of this 
deed, which is preserved among the records of the Dean and Chapter in the 
Muniment Room of Salisbury Cathedral. 

? Edmund was known as ‘‘ Edmund of Almaine,” and possibly the scribe, — 
accustomed to associate the title with him, inserted the word ‘ Alemannie,” 
instead of ‘ Romanorum,” the title of his father Richard. 


eld 


————————— oo Cc 


By T. H. Baker. 


erofta predicta et molendino predicto 
cum omnibus pertinentiis suis in 
puram et perpetuam elemosinam im- 
perpetuum, Ita tamen quod aliud 
molendinum praeterquam ad cortices 
conterendum ibidem non erigatur. Pro 
hac autem donatione concessione et 
carte nostre confirmatione predicti De- 
canus et Capitulum anniuersarium nos- 
trum in ecclesia sua predicta annuatim 
celebrabunt, et et (séc) propriam his- 
toriam de sancto Edmundo Confessore 
in suis festis facient in eadem ecclesia 
sua imperpetuum decantare secundum 
quod in scripto cirographato inter nos 
inde confecto plenius continetur. Et 
nos predictus Edmundus heredes et suc- 
cessores nostri, predictum gardinum 
cum crofta predicta et molendino pre- 
dicto et aliis pertinentiis suis supradictis 
predictis Ecclesie Decano et Capitulo pro 
predicti anniuersarii nostri celebratione, 
et historie predicte decantatione imper- 
petuum contra omnes homines mortales 
Warantizabimus acquietabimus et de- 
fendemus. Ut autem hec nostra dona- 
tio concessio et carte nostre confir- 
matio rata et stabilis imperpetuum 
perseueret presentem cartam sigilli 
nostri munimine roborauimus Hiis 
testibus Dominis Rogero de Moeles 
Henrico Tyeys Willelmo de Sancto 
Martino Petro de Ja Stane Ricardo de 
Coleshulle Henrico de Sottebroke mili- 
tibus Domino Rogero de Drayton ma- 
gistro Ricardo de Sottewelle Waltero de 
Walhop et multis aliis.” 


335 


and to hold the said garden with the 
said croft and the said mill with all their 
belongings in pure and perpetual alms 
for ever. Provided, however, that 
another mill, besides that for grinding 
corn be not erected there. For this 
donation, grant, and confirmation of 
our charter, the said Dean and Chapter 
shall yearly observe our anniversary 
in their said Church, and shall cause to 
be sung the Story of St. Edmund the 
Confessor in their Church on their festi- 
vals for ever as is more fully stated in 
the deed concluded between us. And 
we the said Edmund our heirs and suc- 
cessors will for ever, against all mortal 
men warrant, acquit and defend, the 
said garden, with the said croft and 
said mill and other their belongings, to 
the said Church, Dean and Chapter in 
return for the perpetual celebration of 
our anniversary and the singing of the 
‘said Story: and that this our donation 
grant and confirmation of our char- 
ter may stand sure and firm for ever, 
we have strengthened this present 
charter by the defence of our seal. 
These being witnesses Roger de 
Melles (?); Henry Tyeys; William de 
St. Martin; Peter de la Stane; Richard 
de Coleshull; Henry de Sottebroke ; 
Knights; Roger de Drayton; Master 
Richard de Sottewelle; Walter de 
Wallop and many others.” 


Tirues AT DEVEREL. 
(Osmund Reg., fo. 52, p. 354 of Jones’ ed.) 


“De Mera. 


* A.D. 1199. Omnibus Christi Fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum pervenerit. 
Stephanus Sci Swithuni et Guido de Sudwic divina permissione dicti priores 
salutem in Vero Salutari Mandatum domini papz in he verba suscepimus. 
-“Innocentius Episcopus servus servorum Dei dilectis fiiliis de Hyda Sei 
Swithuni et de Sudwik prioribus in Winton diocesi constitutis, salutem et apos- 
tolicam benedictionem. Dilectus filius, Sarum decanus transmissa nobis queri- 
Monia intimavit quod Cenomanensis ecclesia quasdam minutas decimas de 


aS 


336 Notes on the History of Mere. 


dominico apud Deverel, ad ecclesiam suam de Mera rationabiliter pertinentes, 
illicite detinet et reddere contradicit. Quocirca discretioni vestrze per apostolica 
scripta mandamus, quatinus vocatis ad presentiam vestram qui fuerint evocandi, 
et auditis hine inde propositis, quod canonicum fuerit appellatione postposita, 
judicatis et faciatis quod judicaveritis firmiter observari. Nullis litteris veritati 
et justitiz prejudicantibus a sede apostolica impetratis quod si omnes hiis exe- 
quendis interesse nequiveritis, duo vestrum ea nichilominus exequantur. Dat 
Laterani xiv kalendas Aprilis, pontificatus nostri anno secundo.” 

“Harum literarum auctoritate cum sufficienter citati essent Cenomanensis 
ecclesiz episcopus et capitulum, ut coram nobis comparerent, decano Sarum super 
decimis predictis responsuri et juri parituri, nec per se vel per sufficientem 
responsalem sui presentiam facerent, communicato tandem prudentium virorum 
consilio predictum decanum Sarum in predictarum decimarum possessionem causa 
rei servands, judici fecimus; in quarum possessione cum fere per annum idem 
decanus fuisset, ita ut ad anni completionem tantum tres septimane defuissent ; 
accedens ad nos Wimundus de Deverell predictorum episcopi et capituli 
procurator pro eisdem cautionem de stando judicio ecclesia prestitit juraturam 
et sic predictarum decimarum possessionem liberam et integram recepit. 
Postea vero die certo partibus prefixo, idem W. contra juramentum suum 
temere venire non formidans judicio nostro stare in judicio contumaciter 
recusavit. Nos igitur assidentibus nobis interim viris discretis quia jam annus 
et multo amplius a tempore prime missionis fuerat elapsus predicto decano 
pro secundo de cetero earundem decimarum possessionem excusa tertii conjudicis 
nostri absentia, adjudicavimus proprietatis tantummodo questione predictis 
episcopo et capitulo reservata. Ne igitur hee que, auctoritate apostolica qua 
functi sumus, acta sunt, futuris temporibus in dubium devocari, presentis 
testimonio notitiz nostre duximus significanda. 

“ Valete.” 


[Norr.—The illustrations of the Chapel at Woodlands and of 
the Ship Inn are from photographs specially taken by the Rev. 
J. A. Lloyd, Vicar of Mere. | 


ADDENDA. 


Tur ALMSHOUSES AT ZEALS. 


William Chafyn Grove, Esq., who died 1865, endowed almshouses 


By T. H. Baker. 337 


for four old people, which were erected at Over Zeals shortly after 
his death. On a tablet inserted in the wall is inscribed :— 


“To the Memory of 
His Mother 
These Alms Houses were Erected and Endowed by 
William Chafyn Grove, 
A.D. 1865. 
‘Blessed is the man that considereth the poor, 
the Lord will deliver him in 
time of trouble.” Psalm xli.” 


There is a Congregational Chapel with British School attached, 
and also a Primitive Methodist Chapel, at Zeals. 


The Manor House at Zeals is an ancient structure, but was 
considerably enlarged by the late Miss Julia Elizabeth Chafyn 
Grove, the last owner. 


Errata. 


p. 289—line 4 from bottom, for A. Voss read W. A. Voss. 

p. 318—lines 6 and 7 from bottom are not an extract from the registers, but 
a note made by T. H. B. on the entries in the register at that period. 

p. 225.—At the beginning of these notes it is stated that Mere is bounded on 
the east by Maiden Bradley. It should be on the north and north-east. 


338 


GHilts Obituary, 


The Rey. John Shearme Thomas, s. of the Rev. F. W. Thomas, of 
Parkham, Devon, born Sept. 19th, 1835. Entered Marlborough, Feb., 1848, 
and Trinity Coll., Cambridge, in 1855, where he took his degree—B.A., 
1859; M.A., 1861. He was ordained deacon, 1861, and priest (Sarum), 
1866. Became Assistant-Master at Marlborough, 1859, and Bursar, 1860. 
He married, first, Emily Anna, d. of Canon Reginald Smith, Rector of W. 
Stafford, Dorset, and secondly, a daughter of Dean Farrar. Died Sept. 26th, 
1897, aged 62. Buried at Preshute. 

Closely connected with the government of the college for nearly half-a- 
century, consulted and relied upon by three successive Head-Masters in all 
emergencies, he lived to see the school, which, when he first took office as 
Bursar, was £40,000 in debt, emerge from all its difficulties and assume by 
degrees the position which it now holds among the great public schools of 
England—a position in no small degree due to the great business capacity 
which for thirty-seven years he devoted untiringly to its advancement. 
“ Marlburians,”’ said The Times, “will never forget his services to the 
school, and his death will cause universal regret in their ranks.” “ Since 
Arnold’s,” said Dean Bradley, “no death has ever left such a gap in any 
public school.” This was shown at the funeral, which was conducted by 
three successive Head-Masters of the college, and was attended by some two 
thousand persons. 

But though the best part of his life and abilities was given to the making 
of Marlborough, his abounding activity found vent also in county business 
—and from the first formation of the County Council he was appointed Vice- 
Chairman of the Finance Committee, of which he became the Chairman in 
1896—taking from the first a very prominent part in the work of the 
Council. In politics, as in everything else, he was nothing if not strenuous, 
and at election times he fought most valiantly, not to say fiercely, for the 
Liberal party. The story told of him, that, when a boy at Marlborough, he 
went in, “last wicket,’ in a match when fifty-one runs were required to 
win, and kept up his wicket with dogged determination against professional 
bowling for an hour, making only one run, whilst his captain made the 
other fifty, is characteristic of the whole history of his life. Those who 
knew him best knew most of the influence for good which as boy and man 
he exercised on those around him. He died—as he had lived—in harness. 

The Marlburian, No. 504, Nov. 4th, 1897, contains the fullest account 
of his life and work, consisting of the following contributions by different 
writers :—‘‘In Memoriam” notices, with portrait, by R. Bosworth Smith 
and “ An Old Colleague ’’; Letter from the Dean of Westminster; ‘“ Recol- — 
lections of the Bursar,” by H. Clayton; Poem, by “B.” [A. H. Beesley]; 
and “ The Bursar's Funeral,” (from the Marlborough Times). Other obit. 


cage aa 


Wilts Obituary. 339 


notices, Times, Sept. 28th; Devizes Gazette, Sept. 30th and Oct. 7th ; 
Marlborough Times, Oct. 2nd ; Salisbury Diocesan Gazette, Nov., 1897. 


William Charles Hitchcock, of Conock House, died Nov. 2nd, 1897, aged 79. 
Buried at All Cannings. Well known and much respected. He came of a 
family which numbered among its members in former years many of the 
large farmers of Wilts. He was the third son of Simon Pile Hitchcock, of 
All Cannings, and before he came to reside at Conock, occupied a farm at 
Everley. Obit. notice, Devizes Gazette, Nov. 4th, 1897. 


Rey. Henry Theodore Cavell, aged 72. Died at Weymouth, June 24th, 
1897. St. Bees, 1847. Deacon, 1849. Priest, 1850. Curate of St. 
Clement, Ipswich, 1849—51; St. Helen, Ipswich, 1851—57 ; St. Michael, 
Stockwell, 1857—60; first Vicar of St. James, Bath, 1861—71; St. Jude, 
Southwark, 1871—76; Rector of Burnsall, Yorks, 1876—77 ; Vicar of 
Gresley, Derby, 1877—82 ; St. Paul, Poole, 1882—87 ; Staverton, Wilts, 
1888 until he resigned in 1897. 


The Rev: Edward Slater Browne. Died Sept. 9th, aged about 67. 
Buried at Cholderton. Being found drowned, apparently by accident, in a 
well at Cholderton, where he resided. Worcester Coll, Oxon. 3B.A., 1852, 
M.A., 1855. Deacon, 1854. Priest, 1855, by Bp. of Rochester. Curate 
Holy Trinity, Halstead ; Newton-on-Ouse, Yorks ; Perpetual Curate of St. 
John Baptist, Purbrook, Hants; Curate of Warminster ; Vicar of St. 
Katherine’s, Savernake, 1863—78 ; Sub-Dean of Sarum, 1882—87; Canon 
and Prebendary of Sarum, 1888. A man of considerable abilities. Known 
as a preacher in the Salisbury neighbourhood, who, until his later years 
were clouded by domestic losses, ill-health, and failure of eyesight, did good 
work in the diocese. 

Obit. notices, Wilts County Mirror, Sept. 17th ; Salisbury Diocesan 
Gazette, Oct.; Devizes Gazette, Sept. 16th, 1897. 


Capt. Henry George Hunt-Grubbe, 9th and 48th Regts., of Eastwell, 
Potterne, s. of Thomas Huut-Grubbe, born, 1838, married Ada Letitia, 3rd 
d. of Charles Wyndham, Esq., of Wans, died June 17th, 1897, aged 58. 
Buried at Potterne. Much respected by all who knew him. Obit. notice, 
Devizes Gazette, June 24th, 1897. 


Capt. Ernlé Warriner, of 64, Holland Park, late of 16th Lancers, died Nov. 
24th, 1896, aged 77. 


J. H. Foley. Born at Trowbridge, Dec. 7th, 1847. Died, aged 49, 1897. 
Buried in Trowbridge Cemetery. The son of John Graham Foley, he took 
the leading part in the auctioneers’ business of Foley, Son, & Mundy, and 
was much identified with the business and social life of Trowbridge, where 
his loss was greatly felt. Obit. notice in Wiltshire Chronicle, quoted by 
Devizes Gazette, July 8th, 1897. 


340 Personal Notices. 


Capt. Thomas Price Gratrex. Known in sporting circles as “‘ The Badger.” 
Died May, 1897, and was buried at Corsham, where he had lived for some 
years. A mighty hunter, Bailey’s Magazine for July, 1897, contains an 
article on him by the Hon. F. Lawley, with process portrait. Devizes 
Gazette, July 8th, 1897. 


Richard Higgins. Born July lst, 1815. Died June 24th, 1894. He was 
the son of poor parents—William and Sarah Higgins, of Everley, and began 
life as an apprentice in a general shop at Ludgershall. By his industry and 
energy he raised himself from one position to another until he became city 
traveller to the large lace firm of Fisher & Co., and on the death of Mr. 
Fisher he began business on his own account. A man of fine physique, of 
high character and great enterprise, the firm which he founded—that of 
Messrs. Higgins, Eagle, & Co., of Cannon St., London, met with much 
success, and in the latter part of his life he purchased “The Oaks,” near 
Epsom, formerly well known as a residence of the Earls of Derby. He 
died in London, and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery. 


Samuel Parker, J.P., died April 5th, 1897, aged 58 years. Buried in London 
Road Cemetery, Salisbury. Born at Warminster, he lived almost all his 
life at Salisbury, and had been a member of the Town Council since 1880. 
He was Mayor in 1888-89, and became Alderman in 1894. A Wesleyan and 
Liberal Unionist. Obit. notices, Salisbury Journal, April 10th, and Wilts 
County Mirror, April 9th, 1897. 


Personal Notices. 


The Hon. Sir Henry Charles Lopes, Judge of the High Court of Justice. 
Devizes Gazette, July Ist, 1897. 


The Rt. Hon. Sidney Herbert. Daily Mail, Aug. 3rd, quoted in Wilts 
County Mirror, Aug. 6th, 1897. 


“Parson Gale.” Macmillan’s Magazine, March, 1897, pp. 358—364, 
contains an article entitled ‘“ Requiescat,” which, although no names are 
mentioned, those familiar with Pewsey Vale will have no difficulty in 
recognising as a sketch of the late Vicar of Milton Lilborne. It deals with 
him as a sportsman, a magistrate, and a clergyman, and tells marvellous 
stories of him in each capacity —stories which certainly smack more of the 
eighteenth than of the nineteenth century, and yet may very well be true. 
Tn the article, however, justice is hardly done to the sterling worth and great 
good-heartedness which underlay the eccentricities for which he was famous, 
and the style in which the stories are told, with its somewhat irritating 
straining after humour, is not worthy of the very picturesque subject on 
which the writer is discoursing. 


Process Portraits. 341 


W. H. Fox Talbot, LL.D., F.R.S. A notice of his discovery of 
photography appears in the Building News, June, 18th, 1897, accompanying 
a drawing of the new chancel which it is proposed to add to Lacock Church 
in his memory. 


Canon Sir James Erasmus Philipps, Bart. A long notice of Sir James 
as Vicar of Warminster from 1859 to his resignation in 1897, and of the 
wonderful series of institutions which he has been instrumental in setting 
on foot in that town, appeared in the Warminster Journal and was 
reproduced in the Devizes Gazette, June 3rd, 1897. 


Biographical Notices of one hundred and thirty persons connected with 
Wiltshire who have died since 1850 are contained in Vol. II. (I. to Q.) of 
Modern English Biography, 1897, edited by F. Boase, many of whom are 
noticed in an article in Devizes Gazette, May 20th, 1897. 


Henry Lawes, the musician. An article on him occurs in Temple Bar 
Magazine, Aug., 1896. 


YProcess Portraits. 


Lady Beatrix Fitzmaurice. Country Life Illustrated, July 17th. With 
the Marquis of Waterford, The Lady, Oct. 21st; The Gentlewoman, Oct. 
23rd; Lady's Realm, Dec., 1897. 


Miss Fawcett. The Queen, July 17th, 1897. 


Sidney Richard Olivier (s. of Canon Dacres Olivier, of Wilton), and Miss 
E. M. Hodgson (Mrs.S. R. Olivier). The Gentlewoman, Aug. 7th, 1897. 


George Lopes (s. of Ralph Ludlow Lopes, of Sandridge Park) and 


the Hon. Ernestine Lopes, d. of Lord Ludlow of Heywood. 
Lady's Realm, Oct.; Gentlewoman, Nov. 27th, 1897. 


General Arthur Godolphin Yeatman-Biggs (of Stockton). Black and 
White, Sept. 25th, 1897. 


A. Whitehead (Mayor of Salisbury), Mrs. A. Whitehead; J. M. Swayne 
(Mayor of Wilton); and the late Earl of Pembroke. Appear ona 
sheet with a portrait of the Queen, and “ The Site of Constable’s picture of 
Salisbury Cathedral,’ as “ The Diamond Jubilee Pictorial Supplement” 
of the Salisbury and Wilton Times, June, 1897. 


H. G. Gregory, J.P. Salisbury Times, June 18th, 1897. 


342 Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 
Sir J. D. Astley, the late, statuette of. St. Paul’s, Dec. 28th, 1895. 


J. M. Hayden, tenor in Salisbury Cathedral choir. Notice and portrait in 
Sunday Companion, Aug. 6th, 1897. 


Charles George Wyatt, head of the firm of Keynes, Williams, & Co., 
nurserymen, of Salisbury. Notice and portrait in Gardener's Magazine, 
quoted in Wilts County Mirror, July 16th, 1897. 


Mrs. White (Mayoress of Wilton), Gentlewoman, Nov. 27th, 1897. 


Aecent Wiltshire Pooks and Articles. 


The Popular History of Old & New Sarum. By T. J. Northy. 
Salisbury: published by the “ Wiltshire County Mirror and 
Express”? Co., Ltd., 1897. 8vo. Cloth. Pps. viii., 348, xxviii. [Price 
to subscribers, a list of whose names and addresses is given at the end, 2s. 6d. ] 
Printed first in the Wiltshire County Mirror and Express in instalments 
from April 5th, 1895, to Sept. 25th, 1896. Now revised with many additions. 

This book at once deserves notice and disarms criticism. As a well- 
conceived attempt to make the facts of the history of the capital of our 
county known and popular to its citizens, and to Wiltshiremen, it deserves 
notice and praise in these columns. On the other hand, the circumstances 
under which it was written—as a series of urticles in a Salisbury newspaper 
—have militated against its being regarded as a learned and finished 
literary effort. The writer, who has written a “ History of Exeter,” and is 
a well-known journalist on the staff of the “ Wiltshire County Mirror & 
Express,” appears to have set before himself three objects, which he has 
very fairly successfully accomplished. First, he seems to have studied 
that invaluable mine of wealth, the History of Old and New Sarum, by 
Robert Benson and Henry Hatcher, which is alike too ponderous and too 
inaccessible for the general reader. Secondly, he has gleaned from the 
journalistic resources at his command many interesting facts in the modern 
history of Salisbury since 1843, when Benson & Hatcher's work was 
published. Thirdly, from the materials before-mentioned, and others, he 
has constructed a history of the city in a thoroughly popular style. Though 
but few references are given, there are signs that Mr. Northy has tried 
to read round his subject in order to give his readers the best and latest 


Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 343 


information on certain points. Such, for instance, are his references to 
General Pitt-Rivers’ paper on “ Excavations in Wansdyke,” and others in 
the Wiltshire Archeological Magazine, and the works of Mr. E. T. 
Stevens, Canon Rich Jones, and the Rev. C. A. Lane. He seems, too, to 
have made good use of the facts in that trustworthy and very handy little 
volume, “ Sarum Chronology,” brought out by Mr. W. A. Wheeler, of the 
Salisbury and Winchester Journal, in 1889, The preface of the 
book is dated “ August, 1897,” and the journalistic ‘ up-to-dateness” of 
the writer is shown in his account of the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond 
Jubilee in Salisbury in June last (pages 295—302), which seems to have 
been carried out with great success; his reference to the rebuilding of the 
organ in St. Thomas's Church (on p. 234) ; and his account of the presentation 
of the honorary freedom of the city to Mr. E. H. H ulse, the late M.P., on 
July 19th (appendices, p. xvii.). | We also observe that the Volunteer 
movement in Salisbury receives deservedly very full and adequate treatinent. 
The appendices, by the way, contain some very interesting materials with 
regard to the instutions, schools, clubs, societies, etc., of the city. Also, on 
page xiv., is a valuable account of “ The Salisbury Hymn Book,” based 
on particulars communicated to Mr. Northy by Earl Nelson in Dec., 1895. 
We do not wish to find fault unnecessarily, but in conclusion we must record 
our opinion that the value of the book is impaired by certain obvious 
omissions, ¢.g., the absence of an index ; also the absence of any account of 
the great works of restoration undertaken on the Cathedral during the last 
thirty years ; and especially during the last two years in connection with the 
tower and spire, involving an expenditure of £15,000 to preserve one of the 
greatest national treasures in England. And, lastly, we do sincerely regret 
that, in treating of the growth of the institutions of a city like Salisbury — 
especially by a journalist—no history of the local press, which dates back 
two hundred years at least, should have been given. The city has three 
weekly newspapers, all of which must have had interesting histories ; one— 
“The Journal”-—we know dates back about one hundred and seventy 
years ; the city has also had its printers of general literature, in the well- 
known names of Hooton, Collins, Clapperton, Brodie, Blake, and Brown. 
Noticed in The Times, Sept. 17th, 1897. 


Wiltshire Notes and Queries, No. 18, June, 1897. With a frontispiece 
drawing of Southwick Court, a ground-plan of the Moat, and an illustration 
in the text of a careful drawing of the Incised Slab in the chapel of the north 
aisle of North Bradley Church, Mr. Kite finishes his account of John 
Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury. The following paper, on the Child 
family, of Heddington, is also concluded. The useful “ Records of Wiltshire 
Parishes” are concerned in this number with Bratton. An interesting 
chatty paper by the Rev. A. P. Morres on the Death’s Head Hawkmoth, 
and Notes on Quakerism in Wiltshire, including an alphabetical list of 
Quaker marriages from 1660 to 1692, bring the longer contributions to a 
close—but there are further useful notes on George Ludlow, an early 
settler in Virginia, Archbishop Stafford’s Parents, and the Child Family, of 
Heddington. It is a good number. 


344 Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 


Ditto, No. 19, September, 1897." This number has as frontispiece an 
excellent drawing of the old Dove Cote at Wick Farm, Notton. Mr. 
Story Maskelyne’s careful transcript of Benolt’s Visitation of Wilts, 1532, 
from the MS. in the British Museum, containing pedigrees of Seymour, 
Bourchier, Pike, Page, Burley, Hungerford, Chocke, Braybrook, and Horsey, 
is a valuable genealogical contribution. Mr. Talbot has a note on the 
Bonham pedigree, and then follow ten pages of records connected with 
Bratton. The continuation of Mr. Morres’ paper on the breeding of 
Hawkmoths contains some very suggestive hints for entomologists—but it 
can hardly be said to be specially connected with Wiltshire. The first 
instalment of A Calendar of Feet of Fines for Wiltshire beginning with 
Hen. VII., occupies the next ten pages, after which three pages of Quaker 
Marriage Records and a few notes and queries conclude the number, which 
as a whole is of very solid genealogical interest. 


Salisbury Field Club Transactions, vol. ii, part ii., pp. 87-122. This 
number contains notes on the excursions of the club to Chichester, Wells, 
and Mere ia 1894, and of the general meeting in 1895, followed by a short 
paper on Wells Cathedral, Transcripts of three Deeds relating to St. Giles’ 
Hospital, Wilton, and Notes on Marriages during the Commonwealth from 
the Registers of East Knoyle. Perhaps the most valuable of the contents are 
the Notes on the arms of Hyde, by the Rev. E. E. Dorling, with a drawing 
of the arms on the brass plate on the tomb of Bishop Alexander Hyde, in 
Salisbury Cathedral—not mentioned in Kite’s Brasses of Wilts—and Mr. 
Tatum’s supplemental Notes on the Flora of South Wilts—in which a 
valuable list is given of thirty-nine sub-species or varieties of Rubus, and 
twenty-two of Rosa—very many of these difficult and little-known varieties 
having never before been recorded for the county. 


Marlborough College Natural History Society’s Report for the 
Year 1895. No, 44. This report shows that much good work was done 
during the year and that the society continued as vigorous as ever. It 
commences with a short account of the meetings, lectures, and field-days 
held during the year. Mr. Meyrick gives a valuable list of Birds of the 
Marlborough District, with notes on each species, brought up to date. 
Amongst the rarer species observed in recent years are the Woodchat Shrike, 
Great Grey Shrike, Pied Flycatcher, Lesser Redpole, Crossbill, Cirl Bunting, 
Snow Bunting, Woodlark, Wryneck, Roller, Hoopoe, Hobby, Merlin, 
Bittern, Spotted Crake, and Bar-tailed Godwit. This is followed by a list 
of the local Coleoptera, compiled by A. G. Jebb; a catalogue of the Roman 
Coins in the College Museum; a Record of the Great Storm of June 26th, 
when 2°71 inches of rain fell in three-quarters of an hour, with two photo- 
graphs of the condition of the High Street after it. In the account of the 
Botanical Section Salix repens is noted as having been found between Stype 
and Foxbury Woods. The Entomological Section record eleven species new 
to the district. The number ends with the usual tables of Meteorological 
Statistics and the Anthropometrical Report. 


Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles, 345 


Ditto, No. 45, for the Year 1896. Reports progress “ probably: surpassing 
any previously achieved in breadth of result.” After notices of the meetings 
and field-days, and some papers on general subjects, Mr. Meyrick gives a 
very useful list of the Cretaceous Fossils of the Marlborough District. The 
Entomological Section reports five species new to the neighbourhood. 


Weather observations and other carefully-compiled statistics bring the 
number to an end. 


Address to the Archeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 
on the occasion of its visit to Dorchester, August 3rd, 1897, by 
Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, President of the Meeting, enlarged 
and copiously illustrated to serve as a Guide to the Bronze and 


Stone Age Models in the Museum, Farnham, Dorset. 4to. 1897. 
Pp. 30. (Privately printed.) 

It is needless to say that this address is exceedingly well worth reading, 
and that it is admirably illustrated. Before passing to the excavations in 
Wilts and Dorset, for which he is so famous, General Pitt-Rivers touches on 
a subject of very great interest, viz., the discovery of flint implements in 
situ in the stratified gravels of the Nile Valley. He claims to have been 
the first to make this discovery in 1881, and actually chiselled worked flakes 
out of the wall of an ancient Egyptian tomb. Sir William Dawson thought 
fit in 1884 to question the human origin of these flakes, and General Pitt- 
Rivers returns to the charge most vigorously and thoroughly vindicates 
their artificial character, dwelling on the importance of the evidence of 
their age from their being found im situ deep down in gravels which had 
first had time to become solidified, and afterwards to be excavated by the 
Egyptians for their tombs. Leaving this subject, the author passes on to 
the four rectangular camps which he has excavated near Rushmore, all of 
which he has proved by thorough excavation to belong to the Bronze Age— 
and although neither of these earthworks is remarkable for size or ap- 
pearance, yet the importance of their excavation from an archeological 
point of view is second to no work of the kind done in England in recent 
years— inasmuch as they are the only camps which have as yet been proved 
to be of the Bronze Age. The system of excavation pursued by the General 
is explained, and its results as regards the camps in question and the neigh- 
bouring barrows most lucidly set forth by the help of plans and diagrams, 
and the address ends with a plea for exhaustive records of all excavations 
made, and for the fuller il/ustration by archeological societies of all objects 
that may be found. It is an admirable account of the way in which the 
General works himself, and of the sort of results that arise from his method. 
The illustrations—mostly taken from the 4th vol. of Excavations in 
Cranborne Chase (not yet published)—consist of :—A Plan explanatory of 
the discovery of flint implements near Thebes—Plan of South Lodge Camp 
—Map showing Tumuli and Earthworks near Handley—Plan of Entrench- 
ments on Handley Hill, &c.—Plan of Wor Barrow, Angle Ditch, &c.— 
Average Section of Angle Ditch—Plan of Martin Down Camp—Average 
Section of Rampart and Ditch of ditto—Average Sections of Ditch of Wor 


346 Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 


Barrow (2)—Full-size Diagrams of Skulls (3). There are also six cuts in 
the text of Flint Implements and Sections of Excavations. 


The Life, Letters, and Writings of John Davenant, D.D., 1572— 
1641, Lord Bishop of Salisbury. By Morris Fuller, B.D. London : 
Methuen & Co. Portrait. 8vo. 1897. 

Opinions differ. The Guardian, Oct. 6th, 1897, says :—“ Mr. Fuller 
; . has succeeded in giving us an accurate account of the English Church 
of that period. It was an age of theological giants, whose conversation was 
as ponderous as their erudition. They made the English Church to be 
respected in Europe . . . The age was therefore most important, if it 
was not very attractive, and Mr. Fuller has laid us under an obligation for 
the exhaustive memoir he has now made public.”” The National Church, 
July, 1897, says :— His was an honourable rather than an eventful career. 
He was not ambitious of power, but he exercised both in Cambridge and in 
his diocese a very real and salutary influence by virtue of his learning and 
high character. . . . Mr. Morris Fuller has provided those who wish to 
study the events which led up to the Great Rebellion with a very useful 
volume.” Zhe Atheneum, Sept. 4th, 1897, on the other hand, describes 
Davenant as a clumsy writer, a drearily dull preacher, a commentator who 
threw light on nothing, “a buried divine who would have been better left 
quiet in his grave,” etc., and hints very broadly that the mantle of the 
illustrious Thomas Fuller has zo¢ fallen upon his descendant Morris Fuller, 
who is as ponderous and unreadable as Davenant himself. 


Ben Sloper’s Visit to the Zalsbury Diamond Jubilee Zelebrayshun, 
what he zeed and zed about it. By the Author of Wiltshire Rhymes, 
&c. ([E. Slow.] Pamphlet. Cr. 8vo. Salisbury. (1897). Price 3d. 
Pp. 19. 
Mtr Slow gives a capital account of the Salisbury festivities, in this little 
pamphlet, and Ben Sloper tells his story well—though perhaps his dialect is 
not quite so pure as that of some of the author’s former heroes. 


The Bradford-on-Avon Pictorial Guide, to which is added “ Fifty 

~~ Years of Progress in Bradford-on-Avon.”’ 1837 to 1887. 
Printed and published by C. Rawling, Bradford-on-Avon.  4to. 
Price 1s. 2nd edition. The Guide, pp. 11. “ Fifty Years,” &c., pp. 9 
(unpaged). 

This rather inconvenient-sized guide-book begins with a description of 
the town from the Bristol Times and Mirror, and a slight sketch of its 
history. The various buildings and objects of interest in the town are then 
described—the Parish Church from notes by the late Canon Jones. The 
illustrations comprise three views of the Saxon Church (one on the cover) ; 
a frontispiece of the Parish Church; The Interior of the Hermitage, or St. 
Mary’s Chapel, Tory ; The Town Hall; the Monastic Barn; the Barton 
Bridge; The Old Chapel on the Bridge ; and a General View of the Town 


2 


Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 347 


from the River. They are of varying degrees of merit—some decent 
sketches and others wretched cuts. 

The “ Fifty Years of Progress,” with a Jubilee cover with Royal portraits, 
contains poor woodcuts of Ye Market Place, 1837; New Market Place, 
1887 ; The Grange; The Old Bridge; The Parish Church ; The Cemetery ; 
and Gainsborough’s Portrait of the Parish Clerk. The letterpress gives a 
list of buildings erected or restored since 1837. 


Beecham’s Photofolio, 24 Choice Photographic Views, One Penny. 
Southampton, Winchester, and Salisbury. Published by Thomas 
Beecham, St. Helen’s, Lancashire. Oblong 32mo. A pamphlet with four 
very fair process views of Salisbury Cathedral and one of the High St. Gate. 


Salisbury. Directory of Salisbury and District, published by 
Langmead & Evans, 1897-8. Price 1s. [Cloth, 2s.] Cr. 8yo, 

Pp. 248. First edition. 
This publication, of which the present is the first number, gives the usual 
information found within the covers of directories, including lists of residents 


in the city itself and in all the neighbouring parishes for six or seven miles 
round, 


Rose’s New Cycling, Touring, and Driving Road Map of Forty 
Miles about Trowbridge, with one-mile circles, showing the 
distance from Trowbridge to any part. Scale half-an-inch to a 
mile. G. W. Rose, Bookseller, Trowbridge. (1897. Price 1s.) 


21$ x 16. A very handy folding map, on strong cloth, with the main roads 
clearly shown and coloured. 


Monumental Inscriptions in Devizes Churches. The Devizes Advertiser, 
May 6th—June 17th, 1897, did an excellent work in printing the inscriptions 
on the mural tablets and monuments and ledger stones in the Churches of 
St. Mary, St. John, and St. James, Devizes. 


The White Horses of Wilts are most of them mentioned, and three of 


them illustrated from photos, in an article on “ Turf’ Monuments and what 
they mean,’ by J. R. Creed, in Pearson’s Magazine, Oct., 1897, pp. 417— 
422. The Cherril (sic), Westbury, and Marlborough Horses are those which 
figure amongst the illustrations. 


Salisbury and Stonehenge. Bright's Illustrated Guide to Bournemouth 
and Neighbourhood contains an account of Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Old 
Sarum, pp. 59—64, with good process views of the Cathedral, Stonehenge, 
and Salisbury Market Place. 


Salisbury Cathedral, its Altars and Chapels. An exceedingly valuable 
and learned paper on this subject was read by Canon Wordsworth at the 
Salisbury Meeting of the Dorset Field Club, and is printed in full in the 
Salisbury Journal, Aug. 28th, 1897, 


348 Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 


Salisbury: Churches, &c. Mr. Doran Webb’s description of the City 
Churches, &c., during the visit of the Dorset Field Club to Salisbury, Aug. 
25th and 26th, is to be found well reported in the Salisbury Journal, Aug. 
28th, 1897. 


Stonehenge not Druidical. In this chapter of Prehistoric Man and Beast, 
by Rev. H. N. Hutchinson [London : Smith, Elder, & Co.], an attempt is 
made to prove that Stonehenge is*not a temple, and that it was not built by 
the Druids, but by the “ little folk,” or dwarfs, whom he identifies with the 
people of the long barrows and chambered cairns. See the review in 
Salisbury Journal, 28th Nov., 1896. 


Longleat. The Pall Mall Magazine, Nov., 1897, pp. 292—306, contains 

- an article on Longleat by the Rev. A. H. Malan, giving a readable account 
of Sir John Thynne, the builder of the house, and of the interior of the 
house itself, touching on the principal portraits, &c., therein contained, and 
ending up with the gardens and the park. Its principal value, however, 
lies in the process illustrations, all of which, except, perhaps, the portraits, 
are distinctly excellent. They are as follows :— Kast and North Fronts,” 
Portrait of ‘Sir John Thynne, Builder of Longleat,” “ In the Hall,” “ The 
Hall,’ “The Corridor,” “Lady Louisa Carteret,” “The Library,” “ Mary 
Villiers, Lady Thynne,” “The Drawing-room,” “The State Dining-room,” 
“The Library,” “The Long Gallery ” (two illustrations), “The Garden,’’ 
“The Lake,” ‘ Heaven’s Gate.” 


Longleat. Country Life Illustrated, Aug., 1897, has an article by John 
Leyland, quoted in Wilts County Mirror, Aug. 20th, 1897, illustrated 
with a full-page view of the House across the lake and sketches of the 
Library and Drawing-room. It gives a good account of the building of the 
house. 


Wilton House. The Pall Mall Magazine, pp. 148—161, Oct., 1897, has 
an article by Lady Pembroke, beginning with genealogical details as to the 
line of the Earls of Pembroke and ending with a short notice of the house 
its contents, and the beautiful gardens. The chief value of the article, itself, 
however, lies in the really admirable series of eighteen photo-process illus- 

trations, which do ample justice to the glories of Wilton, the views of the 
interior of the rooms, especially, being marvellously clear and good. They 
comprise the following subjects :—The Entrance Gates, West Front, Holbein 
Front, ‘‘ Double Cube,’’ Great Vandyke in the Double Cube, Corner Room, 
“Single Cube” (two views), Colonnade Room, Cloisters (two views), The 
Writer’s Sitting-room, Lucas van Leyden’s Card Players, Library, Palladian 
Bridge, Lawn, Holbein Porch, Italian Garden. 


Wilts Archeological Society’s Meeting at Bradford, 1897. A fairly 
full account of the meeting and excursions is given (with many misprints) 
in The Antiquary, Oct., 1897. Full accounts are given in Devizes 
Gazette, Aug. 5th. 


Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 349 


Calne. The Monumental Inscriptions in the Church, communicated 


by A. Schomberg, begin in The Genealogist, N.S., XIV., July, 1897, p. 37, 
and are concluded p. 90. 


Charles Lord Stourton; Mervyn Lord Audley, Earl of Castlehaven ; 
and Philip Earl of Pembroke figure amongst “ Titled Criminals” in 


The Ludgate Magazine, June, 1897, p. 122. A portrait of the Earl of 
Castlehaven accompanies the paper. 


Lord Ludlow of Heywood. The Saturday Review, Sept. 11th, 1897, 
‘ contains an article signed “X,”’ criticising very severely the genealogical, 
details given by Lord Ludlow of Heywood, in a letter to the papers, in 
which he stated his reasons for assuming that title. ‘This is followed by a 
copy of verses by Arthur Charles, in which “The Judges’ Pedigree”’ is 
again unkindly handled. 


Hill Deverill Church. An account of this Church, and of the works of repair 


recently executed, is given in the Warminster Journal, quoted in Devizes 
Gazette, Oct. 7th, 1897. 


Wiltshire Workhouses. An amateur tramp describes his experiences at 
Corsham, Melksham, Devizes and Swindon Workhouses in the Pall Mali 
Gazette, quoted in Devizes Gazette, Oct. 21st, 1897. 


Wiltshire Water-finders. On the so-called Divining-Rod, or Virgula 
Divina, by Professor W. F. Barrett, Book I., being part xxxii., vol. xiii., 
July, 1897, of Proceedings of Society for Psychical Research. Plans 
and illustrations. 282 pages, 3s. 6d. This Book J. contains the water- 
finding part of the investigations. The illustrations relating to Wilts 
are :—The late Mr. J. Mullins, Mullins’ Divining Rods, Mr. H. W. Mullins, 
Mr. B. Tompkins, Mr. Tompkins dowsing in South Africa. 


“Salisbury Cathedral and its Picturesque Surroundings,” by Alex. 
Ansted. Illust. Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Aug., 1896, p. 196. 


“The Fossils of the Warminster Greensand,” by A.J. Jukes-Browne. 
Geological Magazine, June, 1896, p. 261. 


Poem on Richard Jefferies, by W. Gibson. Great Thoughts, Aug., 
1896, p. 279. 


* Afoot in Quiet Places,” by W. H. Hudson, Sunday Magazine, July, 
1897, pp. 436—442, has an account of a “ most charming”’ Wiltshire village: 
where there was no public-house, but everyone brewed at home, and was 
prosperous, well-conducted, and happy. 


S. Boniface College, at Home and Abroad. This is a new publication, 
VOL. XXIX.—NO. LXXXVIII. 2 8B 


350 Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 


printed at the press of the Missionary College, Warminster, which it is 
intended to issue terminally (the first number is dated Michaelmas Term, 
1896), to act-.as a bond of union between the present occupants of the college 
and the large number of men now working in all parts of the world who 


have gone forth from it. It is to contain, as far as possible, some account _ 


of the doings of St. Boniface men both at homeand abroad. The subscription 
is 6d. a year. 


Thanksgiving Service for use in the Cathedral Church of Salisbury 

on Thursday, 3rd June, 1897, in commemoration of 

the Baptism of Ethelbert, King of Kent, on Whitsun Eve, Ist 

June, A.D. 597 . . . Salisbury, Brown & Co. Price 1d. 
16mo. Pp. 10. 


Dr. Rumsey’s Patient. A very strange story. By L. T. Meade and 
Clifford Halifax, M.D. London: Chatto and Windus. 1896. 
The scene is laid on and about Salisbury Plain, but the local colour is 
of the very slightest. 


A Citizen of God’s Kingdom. A Sermon preached in the Chapel 
of Marlborough College on Sunday Morning, Sept. 26th, 1897, 
by the Rev. G. C. Bell, M.A., Master of Marlborough College. 


Pamphlet. 8vo. Marlborough, pp. 8. 

A discourse on the character, life, and work of the Rev. J. S. Thomas, 
Bursar of the College, then on his death-bed—“ who as a boy was a powerful 
influence for good, who from early manhood has served Marlborough with 
unrivalled devotion and ability.” 


Allotments in Wilts. An interesting address by Mr. H. Herbert Smith, to 
the Institute of Surveyors, dealing especially with the allotments on the 
Bowood property, is given in Devizes Gazette, March 11th, 1897. 


Bishopric of Bristol. A note on the re-constitution of the Bishopric of 
Bristol, and on the change of diocese to which the northern parishes of 
Wilts have been subject, is to be found in Devizes Gazette, July 15th, 1897. 


The Queen’s Coronation, in Wiltshire. The Devizes Gazette, June 24th, 
1897, reprints from its old files of 1838, an interesting account of the way 
in which the coronation festivities were kept in the principal towns of Wilts. 


The Queen’s Visit to Devizes and Erlestoke, as a little girl, in 1830. 
Aw interesting letter on this subject by “ An Old Devizes Man” appears in 
Devizes Gazette, June 17th, 1897. 


Lord Nelson. Interview with Earl Nelson on Church Questions of the 
Hour. Article in Church Bells, 4th Dec., 1896, pp. 31—3. Four illus- 
trations:—Harl and Countess Nelson; The Drawing-Room, Trafalgar ; 
Earl Nelson ; Trafalgar, near Salisbury, Lord Nelson’s Country Seat. 


Sa es ee 


Recent Wiltshire Books and Articles. 351 


Books by Wiltshire Authors. 


Reminiscences of Literary London, from 1779 to 1853, with 
’ interesting Anecdotes of Publishers, Authors, Book Auctioneers, 
&e., by Dr. Thomas Rees, with extensive additions by John 
Britton, F.S.A. Edited by a “Book Lover.” Post 8vo. Cloth. Price 


3s. 6d. pp. 174 (1897 ?). Suckling & Galloway, 13, Garrick St., Covent 
Garden. 
“ These interesting literary reminiscences were written about the year 
- 1853, and privately printed for presentation only.” 


Some Last Words in a Country Church, by Henry Harris, B.D., 
late Rector of Winterbourne Bassett. London. 1897. 12mo. Pp. 
108. 

This little book contains twenty-two short, simple aud thoughtful sermons, 


published very shortly after the author’s resignation of the Rectory of 
Winterbourne Bassett in 1897. 


Deborah of Tod’s. By Mrs. Henry de la Pasture, author of “The Little 
Squire,” “A Toy Tragedy,” &c. Crown 8vo. 6s. Smith, Elder, & Co. 
1897. 

“Mrs. Henry de la Pasture, whose previous works, ‘The Little Squire,’ 
and ‘A Toy Tragedy,’ were noteworthy for their pictures of child-life, has 
written a novel dealing with characters of more mature years, the scene of 
which is laid in the West Country.”—Atheneum, 6th Nov., 1897. 


Religious Teaching in Secondary Schools, Suggestions to Teachers 
and Parents for Lessons on the Old and New Testaments, Early 
Church History, Christian Evidences, &e. By the Rey. George 


C. Bell, M.A., Master of Marlborough College. London: 
Macmillan. 1897. Post 8vo, Price 3s. 6d. Pp. xii., 181. 

Contents :—The Difficulties of Religious Teaching in Secondary Schools. 
The range and subjects of such Teaching. Suggestions about Methods. 
The Inspiration of the Old Testament. The Composite Character of the 
Books of the Old Testament, especially the Hexateuch. Christian Evidences. 

The book has been favourably noticed in Times, Daily Chronicle, 
Educational Review, Educational Times, Expository Times, Inde- 
pendent, Manchester Guardian, Scotsman, Glasgow Herald, Bookman, 
and Christian World. 


Burnet’s History of My Own Time. A new edition based on that of 
M. J. Routh, D.D. The text has been collated with the original MS. in 
the Bodleian Library by Rev. W. D. Macray. Two vols. 8vo. Cloth. 
Oxford: Clarendon Press. Vol. I. (published 1897?), pp. xxxvi., 608. 
Price 12s. 6d. Part I—The reign of Charles II. Edited by Osmund 
Airy, M.A. 


232 


302 Wiltshire Drawings, Pictures, &c. 


The Times says :—“ All serious students will commend the enterprise of 
the Clarendon Press in issuing a new edition of this famous work and in 
securing the services of so competent an Editor.” 


Noticed favourably in Birmingham Post, Scotsman, and Scottish 
Review. 


A History of Pembroke College, Oxford, anciently Broad Gates 
Hall, in which are incorporated short Historical Notices of the 
more eminent Members of this House. By Douglas Macleane, 
M.A., sometime Fellow, Lecturer, and Chaplain, formerly King 
Charles the First’s Scholar ; Rector of Codford St. Peter, Wilts. 
Pp. xvii—d44. Price £1 1s. Published by Oxford Historical Society, 
Clarendon Press. The illustrations include a portrait of William Herbert, 
Earl of Pembroke, by Vandyck. 

Guardian, Aug. 18th, 1897, says:—“A volume . . . with abundant 
learning, grace, and wit . . . we warmly congratulate the Oxford 
Historical Society and Pembroke College, as well as the author, on the 
appearance of this wholly admirable college history.” 

Favourably noticed in Times. 


Wiltshire Drawings, Pictures, Ke. 


Two Portraits painted by Romney at Ferne, in 1784, were sold at 
Christie’s, May 8th, 1897. That of Mrs. Grove, wife of Thomas Grove, 
three-quarter length, was bought by Messrs. Agnew for £3500; whilst that 
of Elizabeth, d. of John Grove, and wife of William Chafyn Grove, of 
Zeals, sold for 700 guineas. 


Stansfield’s View of Erlestoke brought 240 guineas at the sale of the 
* Abingdon Baird” collection in June, 1897. 


Malmesbury Abbey Porch. A sketch by R. G. Alexander, exhibited 
in Royal Academy, 1897. 


Richard Jefferies. A plaster bust has been recently (1897) placed in the 
National Portrait Gallery. 


F. A. Rawlence, of Wilton. A collection of his water-colour drawings of 


the Riviera and Italy were on view during June, 1897, at the Fine Art 
Society, 148, New Bond Street, London. 


Exhibition of Pictures at Salisbury. A collection of over two hundred 
oil, water-colour, and pastel pictures was open during September, 1897, at 
the Church House. A large number of Wiltshire subjects by local artists 


LL ee eS 


Gifts to the Museum and Library. 353 


and amateurs was included in the exhibition. See Wilts County Mirror, 
Sept. 24th, and Salisbury Journal, Sept. 25th, 1897. 


Laeccck Church. Proposed Re-modelling of Chancel, &e. View 
from the 8. E., by Harold Brakspear, A.R.I.B.A. An excellent 


full-page illustration in The Building News, June 18th, 1897—an ink 
photo from a drawing exhibited in the Royal Academy this year. 


Salisbury Cathedral, by Constable. “A magnificent picture of which 

another version equally fine exists at S. Kensington,” was exhibited 

amongst “ Pictures of the English School” at the Old Bond Street Gallery, 
London, Dec., 1896. 


Gifts to the dtlusenm. 


Presented by Mz. Grant MzeEx : The Cases of Birds deposited in the Museum 


by the late Capt. Ernlé Warriner. 


Gifts to the Library. 


Presented by Mr. Jown Muttines: A very large and valuable series of 


original Deeds and other MSS. relating to North Wilts 
properties, &c., dating from the thirteenth century down- 
wards.——MS. Translation of Malmesbury Charter. 
Court Book of the Manor of Poole, 1709—1747 ; MS. Note 
Book of Wilts Collections, apparently T. D. Fosbroke’s. 
Six Wilts Acts of Parliament, Proceedings against Earl 
of Shaftesbury for High Treason, 1681. Brown Willis’s 
Parochiale Anglicanum, 1733.——Account of Proceedings 
against Rebels in the West of England, 1685.— Five Wilts 
Pamphlets, &c., &c. " 


354 Gifts to the Library. ; 


Presented by Mr. Granr Merk: Bewick’s British Birds, two vols, 1821. 

Rev. J. H. Exxis: Registers of Broad Chalke, 1881. 

Mr. F. W. Parsons: Drawings of Little Park House, and 
Mantelpiece at Wootton Bassett. 

5, Mr. H. E. Mepttcorr: Report of Royal’ Commission on 

Agriculture, Wiltshire and Salisbury Plain District, 1894-95. 
Digest of Endowed Charities in Wilts, 1893. Stephens’ 
Parochial Self-Government. — Twenty-two Wilts Pamphlets. __ 

Scraps. 

Mr. W. Cunnineton: Print. 

Rev. C. V. Gopparp: Two Wilts Pamphlets. 

Rev. E. H. Gopparp: Original MS. List of Horse in Wilts, | 
circa 1645. Stevens’ Notes on the Lake Collection.—— | 
Two Estate Sale Catalogues. ——Thirty-one Wilts Cuts, 
Prints, Xe. ; 

Miss Baitrey: Note Book containing MS. Historical Collections 
for Swallowfield, Berks (formerly Wilts), by Dr. Bailey. 

Mr. C. H. Tatsor: Catalogue of Devizes Exhibition, 1840. 

Mr. A. ScHompBere: Bowles’ Sonnets. Bradford Printed 
Book. —— Five Wilts Pamphlets. 

Mr. G. E. Dartnett: Ben Sloper’s Visit to the Zalsbury 
Diamond Jubilee. —— Three Wilts Pamphlets. ——Sceraps. 

Rev. J. F. Wetsn: Three Wilts Pamphlets. 

THe AvutrHor, Canon THE Hon. B. P. Bouverize: A Few 
Facts concerning the Parish of Pewsey. 1890. 

: Tae AvutHor, Mr. T. J. Nortnuy: The Popular History of 
Old and New Sarum. 

Tae AurHor, Jupce A. W. Savary: History of Annapolis. 
1897. 

Mr. S. G. Percevat: Papers contributed to the Newbury Field 


Club, by E. C. Davey. 1874. 


Errata. 


p 187, line 12, for cxvii read xcvii. 
p. 210, line 18, for bad vead mad. 
p- 326, line 16, for May read November, 


END OF VOL. XXIX. 


——_————== 


C. H, Woodward (late Hurry & Pearson), Printer and Publisher, Devizes, 


yal MUse 
we uy 


+ 
—_ 
f 4 
i] ; ? 
ho 
‘ : 
a ‘ 
ct A 
t) i i ’ 
~ 
: eva b “i i ne 
‘, & * 
et 


WILTSHIRE ARCHAOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


Account of Receipts and Disbursements of the Society from 1st January to 31st December, 1896, both days inclusive 


DR. GHNERAL ACCOUNT CR. 
1896. RECEIPTS. fs. d. 1896. DISBURSEMENTS. £ os. d. 
Jan. Ist. To balance brought from last account 288 12 4 Dec. 31st. By Cash, sundry payments, including 
Dec. 3lst. ., Cash, Entrance Fees, and Postage, Carriage. and Miscellaneous 
Annual Subscriptions re- Expenses aes secant are 2017 4 
ceived from Members Deficit on Annual Meeting. On 16: 
during the year, viz. :— Printing and Stationery 417 9 
14 Entrance Fees .. “af (0) Printing, Engraving, &e., for Magazines:— 
a Subscription for1891 010 6 INGIRBr cer eee 329 5 
2 Di 1892 1 1 0 . 4114 4 
4 Pe 1893 2 2 0 210 0 
6 A 1894- 3 3 0 a 7613 9 
59 a 1895 3019 6 Inguisitiones Post Mortem, Part IV.... 1616 0 
292 a 1896 153 6 O Stourhead Catalogue ..........2...ceeeees 22 8 
7 m1 1897 313 6 Expenses at Museum ...... at 
—— Attendance at ditto......... 23:17 O 
202 2 6 Property and Land Tax... 2 7 4 
, Transfer from Life Mem- UME ngage nesococancencen OOO) 
bership Fund............ (ay iy a Sundry additions _ to 
——_ 208 1 7 Museum and Library... 35 3 6 
», Cash received for sale of Magazines Sil imer ll ———__ 69 2 10 
,, Ditto Jackson’s “Aubrey” ......... 2 LOO) (Choyrboott::leldly deh: aotennceagonenecoordsosn0ed 20 8 1 
Ditto Smith’s ‘‘ North Wilts ” it ail Balance in hand, viz. :— 
, Admissions to Museum . 712 4 Savings Bank ............ 174 3 3 
, Donations in Box : kh) Financial Secretary 38 19 6 
,, Dividends on Consols .... A ats} (0) Consols, 22 % at cost... 100 0 O 
,, Devizes Savings Bank, interest nadia AG 4 ——— 
Less :— Bid) 12) 49 
Due to Capital and 
Counties Bank...... 19 5 
293 17 0 
£525 8 8 £525 8 8 
DR. ; LIFE MEMBER ES FUND. £ aaa 
1896. ‘ 
Jan. Ist. To balance brought from last account... 58 ‘1 a Dew ‘it By one-tenth to General Income Account 5 19 u 
Nov. 20th. ,, Savings Bank interest ..........0.06 i ts) 8) Balance in Savings Bank ..,......s002-+8+ 53 11 9 
£59 10 10 £59 10 10 


Audited and found correct, 


G. S. A. WAYLEN 
5th October, 1897. 


E, F. TOONE, 


2 } Auditors. 


DAVID OWEN, 
Finaneial Secretary. 


A et od 


NOTES ON WILTSHIRE MATTERS. 


‘The Editor will be glad to receive, for insertion in the Magazine, 
any short Notes on Antiquarian, Genealogical, or Historical 
matters connected with the County, as well as on any interest- 


ing points of Wiltshire Natural History or Geology. 


QUERIES AND REQUESTS. 
CHURCHYARD INSCRIPTIONS. 


The Rev. E. H. Gopparp would be glad to hear from anyone who 
is willing to take the trouble of copying the whole of the in- 
scriptions on the tombstones in any churchyard, with a view to 
helping in the gradual collection of the tombstone inscriptions 
of the county. Up to the present, about thirty-five churches 
and churchyards have been completed or promised. 


- WILTSHIRE PHOTOGRAPHS. 


The attention of Photographers, amateur and professional, is called 
to the Report on Photographic Surveys, drawn up by the 
Congress of Archeological Societies and issued with No. 84 
of the Magazine. The Committee regard as very desirable 
the acquisition of good photographs of objects of archeological 
and architectural interest in the county, m which special at- 
tention is given to the accurate presentment of detail rather 
than to the general effect of the picture. The Secretaries would 
be glad to hear from anyone interested in photography who 
would be willing to help on the work by undertaking to photo- 
graph the objects of interest in their own immediate neighbour- 
hoods. ‘The photographs should, as a rule, be not /ess than 
half-plate size, unmounted, and must be printed in permanent 
process. 


CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS EXISTING IN THE COUNTY. 


At the Congress of Archeological Societies held December Ist, 
1897, it was resolved to attempt to compile in each county a 
list of all the Portraits at present existing in public and private 
hands; oils, water-colours, drawings, miniatures, busts, &ce., 
to be included. A simple form has been drawn up Mr. Lionel 
Cust, keeper of the National Portrait Gallery, which will 
shortly be ready for distribution. Any lady or gentleman 
who is willing to undertake to fill up this form with the 
details of portraits is requested to communicate with the 
Honorary Secretaries. It is intended that the lists for Wilt- 
shire, when completed, shall be copied in duplicate; one copy 
to be deposited at the National Portrait Gallery, the other to be 
retained by the Wilts Archeeological Society. 


THE BIRDS OF WILTSHIRE. One Volume, 8vo, 613 pp., Extra Cleth, 
By the Rev. A.C Smith, M.A. Price reduced to 10s. 6d. 


Political Letters and Speeches of Lord 


‘Tembroke. Morris’ Marston and Stanton. — 
Beckford. Recollections of, 1893. Moore. Poetical Works. Memo 
Ditto Memoirs of, 1859. Mrs. Marshall. Under Salisbury 


Beckford Family. Reminiscensea: 1887. 
Lawrence, Sir T. Cabinet of Gems. 
Sporting Incidents in the Life of 
another Tom Smith, M.F.H., 1867. 
Marlborough College Natural History 


Society. Report. 1881. Marian Dark. Sonnets and Poems. 
Lord - Clarendon. History of the 1818. - 
Rebellion. Reign of Charles II. Village Poems by J.C.B. Melksham. 


Clarendon Gallery Characters.Claren- 
don and Whitelocke compared. The 
Clarendon Family vindicated. &c. 
Akerman’s Archeological Index. 
Hobbes (T). Leviathan. Old Edition. 
Bishop Burnet. History of the Reforma- 
tion. 
Woollen Trade of Wilts, Gloucester, 


Hie | Will ane M embe g v 


Besante Eulogy. of R. Jefferies. 


Maskell’s Monumenta Ritualia. Sar 
Use. , 
Walton’s Lives:’ Hooker. Herbert. 
Slow’s Wilts Rhymes, 2nd Series. 
Register of S. Osmund. Rolls Series. 


1825. 
Bowles. Poetical Works and Life, by 
Gilfillan. 
Bolingbroke, Lord. Life of, by Mac- 
knight. 
Guest’s Origines Celtica. 
Stokes’ Wiltshire Rant. 
History of the Ist Battalion Wilts 


and Somerset, 1803. Volunteers. 1861—1885. By Major 
Addison (Joseph). Works. R. 1D. Gibney. 1888. a 
Life of John Tobin, by Miss Benger. Morrison. Catalogue of Kingravings “o 
¥ 


Gillman’s Devizes Register. 1859—69. 

__R. Jefferies. Any of his Works. 

Marshall’s Rural Economy of Glouces- 
shire with Dairy Management of N. 
Wilts, 1789. 

Cobbett’s Rural Rides. 

. Moore, his Life, Writings, and Con- 

Bie temporaries, by Montgomery. 

Murray’s Handbook to Southern Ca- 
thedrals. 


N.B.—Any Books, Pamphlets, &c., 


at Fonthill House. 1868. = 
Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. oa 
Numismata Antiqua. 1746. re 
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, — 
Poems. 3 
Fawcett, Professor. 
Browne Willis. 
Cathedrals. 
Murray’s Handbook of Wiltshire (age 
edition). 


written by Natives of Wiltshire, or 


Speeches. 
Survey of English — 


a | 


Prints of objects in the County, Old Deeds, and Portraits of Wiltshiremen, will” 


Residents in the County, on any subject, old Newspapers, Cuttings, Scraps, a 
Election Placards, Squibs, Maps, Reports, &c., and any original Drawings or - is 


also be acceptable. An old Deed Box or two would be very useful. "a 
pee. AGENTS 4 
ee a FOR THE SALE OF TUR 3 Fs aa 

WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE, 


hy SE ep R. F. Houtston, New Bond Street. ee 
SBPIRTOUS. cos excas es James Fawn & Sons, 18, Queen’s Road. 
DOENOS So 5 seas oe A. Hrata & Son, Market Place. 
Chippenham ...... R. F. Houvtstoy, High Street. 
~ Cirencester ...... A. T. Harmer, Market Place. 

TROIIAGS Laces. se 08 es C. H. Woopwarn, St. John Street. 
Marlborough...... Miss E. Lucy, High Street. 
Melksham......... Joturrre & Co., Bank Street. 

DEFOT OE cine a Jas. Parker & Co., Broad Street. 

Salisbury ......... Brown & Co., Canal. 

Trowbridge ...... G. W. Rosz, 66, Fore Street. 

Warminster ...... B. W. Coates, Market Place. 


©» H. WOODWARD, (LATE HURRY & PEARSON:) MACHINE PRINTER, DEVIZES. 


ee al 
a ae as 


a 


eo ae 


Ny 


) 


i 
‘ 


AN 
mip 
ices 


‘i a 


AGSY tee 
iA AL, 


Da 
4 ‘ 


‘ 
% 


RNY 


these hs “a) 
‘ ut 


i 
ar 


at 


MS 


a 
he 


4 
phe